The Snake she Charmed
by x8xdanix6x
Summary: Like everyone else, Scorpius was drawn to the vivacious little redhead. However after poor first impressions and many mistakes later, will he be able to convince her that he is worthy of her love? Snake Charmer from Scorpius's POV   ABANDONED - WILL BE REWRITING SNAKE CHARMER IN MORE DETAIL AND FROM MULTIPLE POV
1. Chapter 1

**The Snake she Charmed**

_**Snake Charmer according to Scorpius**_

(Harry Potter Next Generation - Mainly Lily L. Potter x Scorpius H. Malfoy but contains many other pairings.)

_There were two things the people of Hogwarts were sure of. One being that Lily Potter hated Scorpius Malfoy and the other being that he hated her back. _

_However what they didn't know was how good at deception Scorpius Malfoy really was. The Slytherin was not the person they all thought him to be. He was just doing his best to get himself through the awful situation he had got himself into._

_Join him on his mission to change the firey little redhead's opinion of him. A girl who has captivated him since the moment he saw her._

**Chapter 1: Trouble**

From the moment he saw her, he knew he was in trouble. She had the most vibrant red hair he'd ever seen, he was certain it had to be magical. It glowed brighter than a sunset and looked as if it would burn to touch. He wished he was closer to her so that he could test out his theory but alas, she was far from reach. He was sat in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express and she stood on the platform outside.

He couldn't determine the colour of her eyes only that they were light, either hazel or blue: not grey. Her skin was a pearly white and free of freckles which he knew to be unusual. He'd often heard his grandfather talk about a family who in his words had 'ghastly red hair and hundreds of unsightly freckles.' Scorpius knew the family his grandfather referred to, they were the Weasleys.

The majority of the Weasleys had hair of varying shades of red and a mass of freckles. His grandfather had pointed them out to him on one of their trips to Diagon Alley. "Stay away from that family Scorpius. They are nothing but trouble." His grandfather had told him. Not that that had stopped him from getting to know members of that family. He disliked his grandfather as much as he disliked brussel sprouts and pop music. He very rarely did what was asked of him.

The girl just did not fit the mould of redheads as he knew them. He longed to discover who she was, because this little redhead was undoubtedly the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his near thirteen years of existence. He watched her closely and as the engine began to roar her facial features started to change. He was horrified to realise that she was in pain. Tears began to stream down her angelic face and she chased the Hogwarts Express down the platform when it set off. For some inexplicable reason, her tears pained him and he would have gambled the world away if only to make her smile. He frowned as his heart ached to comfort her and he puzzled over what had come over him. For Merlin's sake, he didn't even know her name!

He had no reason to be drawn to her but he couldn't take his eyes away from the sight her. His body had a mind of its own and as the girl started to lag in pace, he pressed his nose up against the glass so that he could continue to watch her.

It was only when she faded into the distance that he finally leant back in his seat. He sat there listening to the gentle chugging of the train and thought of her. He saw her face perfectly in his mind having inadvertently memorised every part of it. He pondered on her sadness and hoped that it wouldn't last long.

She'd been waving goodbye to someone and he felt a surge of resentment towards them. He wished it had been him she was so saddened about leaving, but then if it had been, he didn't think he would have been able to get on the train. He would have gladly stayed at home instead of returning to Hogwarts for his second year. Not that he needed any encouragement for not wanting to go back to Hogwarts.

His first year had been hell and he knew his second year would be just as bad but for an entirely different reason. It was a reason of his own making and now that he had made his bed, he was going to have to lie in it until the day he graduated. The very prospect made him miserable.

The door suddenly slid open waking him from his thoughts. "Is anyone sitting here? Oh it's you." A voice said turning cold when he realised who he was talking to.

Scorpius' silver eyes stared icily into a pair of green eyes which shone like jewels. He felt a pang of regret when he recognised the boy instantly. An elder boy was standing next to him who was identical to the other in every way except for being slightly taller and his eyes were a chocolate brown instead of green. Scorpius knew them both almost as well as he knew himself. Under different circumstances he would have been pleased to see them. However, the times weren't different and he had done things to them both which could not be undone. He frowned and worked on hiding his regret, locking it away.

The elder of the two misinterpreted his expression. "Don't worry, we wont hang around." he spat and directed the younger away from the compartment without a backwards glance. Scorpius sighed, there was no point in going after them like he wished to do. What was done, was done and there was no going back. Seeing the two boys again after the summer made him recall his mother's words to him the day before he started Hogwarts last year.

_She had been sitting at her dressing table brushing her soft golden hair whilst examining her reflection in the mirror. He had been sitting nearby just enjoying the peaceful look on her face. She caught the image of him in the mirror and then turned and beckoned him over. He joined her eagerly and she pulled him onto her lap. He made no words of protest about him being too old now to sit on her knee._

_She stroked his platinum blonde hair which was several shades lighter than her own. Tenderly, she kissed the back of his head and hugged him. He felt safe and loved in his mother's arms but he knew she could sense his nervousness. He hadn't spent a single day apart from his family before and tomorrow he would be on his way to boarding school and wouldn't see them until Christmas. "Just be yourself when you're at school Scorpius," she told him, "and you'll make some great friends. People wont care about what this family has done in the past if only show them who you really are." She was so confident when she told him that and he had listened to his mothers advice without question._

He had met some great friends on the train before they even arrived at Hogwarts. However, his mother had not prepared him for what was to come. As soon as the Sorting hat had been placed on his head and sorted him into Slytherin he knew he would be separated from them. Minutes later, his fears were proven right and Scorpius found himself torn apart from his new friends as they were sorted into Gryffindor.

For most of the year, he remained friends with the Potters and Weasleys but his housemates made it difficult for him. Scorpius was bullied mercilessly behind the doors of the common room and he had nowhere to escape from their torments. He kept his difficulties from his friends and only Rose seemed to suspect the extent of the problems their friendship caused. She'd tried to approach the subject but he denied it, not wanting her to worry.

Eventually he wrote to his father explaining his difficulties. He still remembered the words in the letter his father sent back to him. Acting on those words had had devastating consequences. The words read: 'I want you to know that your years spent at Hogwarts will not define you as the man you will later become. Do what you have to do to make it through but remember the person you really are. It is what you do with your life after you graduate which is all that really matters. Hogwarts is just a means to an end. If it becomes too hard there are other Wizarding schools you can attend.'

As a result of his father's advice, Scorpius chose his house over his friends. His lack of bravery was probably what landed him in the Slytherin house to begin with. He ditched his friends and started bullying the other students whom were not in the Slytherin house. He used terms he objected to and did everything he could to earn the respect of his housemates, whilst locking his true self up deep within himself. He embraced his new persona and the bullying ceased, although he did have to deal with the hostility from his former friends.

The door of the compartment opened and his attention flew to the door once more. This time it was some fellow Slytherins whom entered. "Hey Malfoy, how was your summer?" Duanne Zabini asked as he took seat opposite him. The other boy, Thomas Warrington sat in the seat next to him. Scorpius had mixed feelings towards the latter. Thomas had been one of his tormentors, but had seemed to take a more subservient role after Scorpius had been accepted into the group. Scorpius tolerated him because it was better to get along with his housemates than to stand against them. He never wanted things to go back to how they were in his first year. Duanne Zabini, however, was the closest thing Scorpius now had to a friend and their friendship was genuine.

"It was ok, quiet as usual. How was yours?" he replied.

Duanne sighed heavily as if his holiday had been a nightmare, "My sisters have been driving me insane. They can't wait to go to Hogwarts and they just missed the cut off age by two days. Needless to say, they've been hell to live with." he explained.

Scorpius nodded, he knew Duanne had three younger siblings. His two sisters were identical twins and would be turning eleven in a couple of days. He also had a younger brother Dorian who was only six. He'd never met any of them but Duanne had mentioned them often in the early days of their friendship. Scorpius felt the familiar pang of loneliness mixed with jealousy about being an only child.

"Was that the Potters before?" Warrington asked in a somewhat suspicious tone causing Scorpius' attention to be drawn away from his thoughts again. He turned to the boy and frowned showing Warrington that he did not appreciate his scepticism.

"Yes" he replied nonchalantly.

Warrington's eyes narrowed, "What did they want?"

Scorpius shrugged, "Looking for the rest of those snivelling weasels no doubt." He sneered and saw Duanne nod with approval. The part of him he locked away disapproved with him talking about his former friends in that way. He told himself he was doing what was needed to survive the next year with the least amount of damage: The part of himself he kept locked away relented its protests. Scorpius knew his standing among the rest of the Slytherins was still tenuous. They didn't trust him yet. So if any of the Slytherins thought he was getting friendly with the Potters again, the torture would restart.

When Scorpius caught Duanne's eyes, he saw them roll. It was obvious that his friend thought the other was just being difficult. He felt relieved and grateful for his friend's confidence in him.

Several minutes passed when they were interrupted again by someone opening the compartment. "You're late Goyle" Warrington snapped when a short stocky boy entered the compartment.

The boy grimaced and dragged his trunk through the door, "I had a run in with Rose Weasley, I swear she's the most insufferable know-it-all on the planet." he explained quickly.

"Malfoy here gives her a run for her money" Duanne teased.

Picking up on the jest in Duanne's tone, Scorpius raised a white blonde brow, "Are you saying I'm insufferable?" he asked keeping his tone level.

Duanne chortled and started shaking his head, "No man, not anymore: just a know-it-all. I swear you are the only one who could knock that girl off her high horse. It's unendurable to watch her act as if she's the most wonderful thing on the planet." he admitted which caused Scorpius to smirk. In truth, Scorpius didn't believe that Rose acted in that way. She was genuinely intelligent and strived to improve her knowledge and understanding of the world which was often misinterpreted as being bossy, over-bearing and superior. Regardless, he wasn't about to voice his opinions and he allowed the conversation to drift to safer topics.

As the journey continued, the other three boys were deep in conversation. Scorpius became detached and his eyes lingered on the passing scenery through the cabin window. He could see the mountains in the distance and knew they were getting closer to Hogwarts. His thoughts returned once again, to the little redhead. He wondered who she was and when he would ever see her again.

In the year that followed, he found himself turning more Slytherin with every passing day. He gradually found himself becoming a more dominant member of the group and soon Warrington and Goyle were willing to follow his commands as law. His tolerance of them slowly turned into something more like friendship: he actually started to like them! His friendship with Duanne became stronger and it wasn't long before there was no risk of Scorpius becoming target practice for his fellow Slytherins.

As the Potters and Weasleys became more hostile towards him, he found it easier to suppress his feelings of guilt. It was only Rose who appeared to realise he had done what he'd done to them out of necessary and not true dislike. She didn't confront him about it though, she just did what she could to keep her family away from him.

Though he'd finally found his place in the Slytherin house, there were still times when things got to much for Scorpius to handle. When that was the case, he'd seek out a quiet place and picture the little red-haired angel from the platform and would somehow feel at peace.

**I'd love to hear your thoughts on this story. Thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for reading and reviewing.**

**Chapter 2: Family**

The month of August was almost over. Nevertheless, it was still warm dry. In fact it was a perfect end to the Summer holiday. In two days time Scorpius would be starting his third year at Hogwarts. He was a little more eager to go back to school this year, however, he had enjoyed his time away from school this time around.

He was currently at home with his family. His parents were both inside the manor and his grandfather was in one of the outhouses. Scorpius wasn't allowed to go in there as that was where he kept his private collection of dark objects.

Now, any other boy may have been curious to see what kind of objects his Grandfather kept hidden. Scorpius wasn't one of them. He could truthfully say that he couldn't care less. That sort of magic held no interest to him. He did find it amusing that considering his family's history with the Dark Arts, it was his father that stuff had banished it from the house. His mother also abhorred the Dark Arts, so Scorpius suspected that had been part of the reasoning behind his father's decision.

Scorpius was currently standing in one of the gardens that surrounded Malfoy Manor. Ever since he was a toddler, he had always preferred to be in the outdoors. The family owned so much land which had numerous places hidden away, that Scorpius' curiosity was sated exploring them. Just last week he'd found a small pond and waterfall when he'd been exploring the nearby woods. There were probably even more little treasures to find: however, Scorpius was not exploring today.

Today he was strolling around the flower gardens with a young man with vibrant aqua hair. His name: Teddy Lupin. Teddy was one of Scorpius' cousins: though not a first cousin. Their grandmother's were sisters and had been estranged for many years. They had only recently got back in touch and were trying to overcome the mistakes they'd made in the past. It was a very strenuous task. He's only recently found out that they'd had an older sister named Bellatrix. To call her insane was an understatement. That sister had put her ambitions and the love for the Dark Lord above the welfare of her own family. She'd murdered Andromeda's daughter who was Teddy's mother. Scorpius was surprised Andromeda Tonks had wanted anything to do with their family.

The two women sat together in the gazebo on the other side of the hedge whilst the boys walked and talked. Not that he could call his cousin Teddy a boy. He was a man and nine years older than himself.

"How've you liked the holidays?" Teddy asked with genuine curiosity as they passed under a stone archway and entered the rose garden. It housed more or less every species of the flower.

"It's been ok really." Scorpius started and glanced up into a pair of warm grey eyes. Teddy's fondness for the younger boy was clearly evident in those eyes. "I spent a lot of time at the Zabini's this summer and visa versa."

Teddy smiled and Scorpius was caught off guard by how much that smile reminded him of the Potters. He knew it shouldn't have surprised him. Teddy was practically an older brother to the Potter children. Both his parents had died in the second war and the famous war hero: Harry Potter, was his godfather. Him and the Potter children had been raised together and he was even dating the eldest Weasley girl, Victoire.

Scorpius remembered her well, no one who saw her could ever forget her. She'd been in her final year when he started Hogwarts. She was tall with silver blonde hair and dazzling blue eyes. She was stunning and had some kind of power over men which stemmed from her Veela ancestry. Not only that, but she was brave and intelligent, with a sweet and caring disposition. It was impossible to dislike her. Many girls had attempted to be jealous and were a little fearful that she would try to steal away their boyfriends. Over time they soon discovered that there was no risk of that ever occurring. Scorpius had heard that even in their yearly teen years, Teddy and Victoire's mutual affinity for each other was paramount.

They had similarities in their family histories which only added to their connection. Their fathers had both been attacked by the werewolf Fenrir Greyback. Victoire's father had been attacked when the werewolf had not been transformed. As a result he had avoided the lycanthropy curse. Teddy's father hadn't been so lucky. The curse had luckily not been passed on to Teddy. He did have a rare gift though. Teddy is a Metamorphungus which he inherited from his mother. This meant he could change his appearance at will.

As Scorpius watched, Teddy changed the colour of his hair to a vibrant pink. Scorpius laughed instantly and knew he would never get bored of witnessing that trick. Teddy was definitely the coolest person he knew.

"So what are the Zabini's like?" Teddy asked thoughtfully as if wanting to judge whether they were a good influence on his younger cousin.

Scorpius was touched by his concern. "Duanne's ok, he's a good friend and has helped me through a lot." he said without going into detail. "His parents are…different but I guess they are ok." he said with a shrug. He didn't bother to mention any more about them. In truth he thought them strange. They were so different from what he was used too. Where his parents had a set of rules they abided to only when in public, Duanne's parents were just as stringent with their views and values at home. They were also cold. He couldn't understand how parents could be so cold and nonchalant towards their children.

By spending time with the Zabinis he learnt that not all beautiful things were as pretty on the inside as they were on the outside. There was no doubt in his mind that Duanne's parents were beautiful, their aristocratic characteristics were very attractive. However, when you mixed that beauty with the ugliness within them: Scorpius definitely disliked them. Maybe when he was older he would grow to understand their behaviour, but for now it was a mystery.

For the meantime he remained polite to them despite his feelings. The fact that he owed them a lot also helped him to stay his tongue. They gave him the family he'd forsaken when he turned his back the Potters and Weasleys. Duanne and his siblings really did feel like family to him now.

"He has two sisters and they are identical twins. Margarita is pretty cool, she's really chatty with me and her Brothers and sisters. But she's really shy around others. She's also a big fan of Quidditch so we've been teaching her to play the game even though first years aren't allowed a broomstick. I find her really easy to get along with. Magdalana is nice too but she's different from her sister. She's a lot more confident and she's not afraid to voice her opinions and it gets her into a lot of trouble sometimes. They both start Hogwarts this year and they are really excited about it." Scorpius informed him.

Teddy looked thoughtful for a moment, "They'll be in the same year as Lily then." He stated randomly and at Scorpius' confused expression he continued. "Lily Potter, she's like a sister to me and she's a sweet little thing if you keep on her good side. If you don't, then she has a fiery temper to match her hair." he laughed.

Scorpius nodded despite not really understanding Teddy's last comment. The Potters had black hair and that didn't really suggest that they had _fiery tempers. _He wasn't going to ask about it though. He never asked about how the Potters were doing anymore. There was no point in asking about the family he'd forsaken.

It was fact that James and Albus Potter, Rose, Louis and Lucy Weasley used to treated him like a brother. The important words to point out being 'used to', as in past tense. It was also fact that Scorpius had turned his back against the family. The Weasley and Potters may be able to forgive a lot of things, however betraying the family was not one of them. In their eyes Scorpius had committed the ultimate crime. There was no point crying over it: that was just the way things were. He doubted that they even knew that Teddy came to visit him from time to time. They probably didn't even realise that they were related.

In attempt to avoid the subject, Scorpius resumed talking about the Zabini family. "He also has a brother, he's called Dorian and he's six years old. He's so adorable you just have to like him. He's got a good sense of humour too, he always likes to make people laugh."

Teddy nodded thoughtfully as his hair returned to it's original colour. "Then I'm glad you have them." He said after a few moments and applied the pressure of his hand onto the young Malfoy's shoulder. They talked for a while until Teddy's other commitments drew him away and they made their goodbyes.

Scorpius returned to his grandmother but she ushered him back to the house, whilst she went to retrieve her husband. As she so often told her grandson, "You're grandfather spends so much time brooding within those walls it's unhealthy. Don't ever become a brooder my dear." Scorpius feared that the advice was given to him too late, but no matter what happened, he would not turn into his grandfather. He was a bitter old man who held onto the old times to such an extent that, he forgot to live in the present.

The manor was certainly a magnificent site to behold even when you approached the back entrance as Scorpius now did. The six tier property dominated the elegant landscaped gardens which went on for acres and acres. He could see a glimpse of the large unused ballroom at the centre of the property which led into a large glass conservatory. The conservatory was decorated with ornate, white-coated, wrought iron furnishings. On either side of the conservatory were large patio areas. In the centre of each were identical three tiered fountains. Scorpius couldn't remember the last time the ballroom had been used and it saddened him to see it go to waste.

Attaching the East Wing to the main body of house was the library. It expanded the entire height of the property and was covered wall to wall with bookcases. The sheer amount of books in their collection was rivalled only by Hogwarts Library and even then, they were probably on an even par. Scorpius went there only when his parents weren't at home. During their absence it was his sanctuary and it was hard to feel lonely around all that history and knowledge waiting to be discovered.

The East Wing was his grandparent's residence. They had everything they ever needed to keep themselves entertained. However, his grandfather was more often in the outhouses than he was at home. His grandmother was happy there though. She got to see her family whenever she wanted and also had her privacy when the need called for it.

The West Wing however, was more like an empty shell. It was a relatively new addition to the property having only been finished earlier in the summer. It housed an indoor quidditch pitch and swimming pool which Scorpius and his friends had been eager to test out. His father had permitted him to invite his classmates over a few times during the summer and they had spent most of their time there. It had been a peculiar but welcomed experience to have them all there. He could hardly believe that once upon a time, they'd been more like enemies than classmates. That Wing wasn't really put to use when they weren't around. Although Scorpius did practice his seeker skills there from time to time. He'd been appointed Slytherin seeker at the end of the previous school year.

The main body of the house was where Scorpius and his parents lived. Although there was way too much room for the three of them. In addition to the ballroom, there were five extremely large reception rooms, a games room and a formal dinning room. They only really used the smaller rooms and the others went to waste. It was a theme in their home: so much went to waste.

The basement had been converted into a kitchen before he was even born. There was also a ridiculously sized wine cellar filled with and expensive collection. Scorpius had been told that there used to be a dungeon down there when his father was young. There had been cells where prisoners were held captive. The thought sent shivers down his spine. His father had relished in the opportunity to demolish that place and in its stead, he'd created comfortable living accommodations for the well loved House Elves. They were odd little creatures but they had a good heart. There were even families of the little creatures all living together down there. Scorpius knew that many other wizarding family's didn't treat their House Elves as well as they did. As his father was fond of saying: 'It's how a wizard treats those that others think inferior to them, that is important.' His father also admitted that he'd found that out the hard way and he was ashamed to confess that he hadn't always been kind to those he should have been kind to.

The upper levels of the property housed the sleeping accommodations. In addition to the master suite and Scorpius' room, there were at least thirty other large bedrooms which were just begging to be used. There were also other rooms in the more central levels where Scorpius had never entered. He much preferred exploring the gardens to the house. The house was too empty whereas the gardens were filled with all manner of creatures. One day, when the manor was his, he'd have parties as often as he could so that the rooms could be filled as they were designed to be.

He crossed the patio and entered the house through a door to the left of the greenhouse. He was immediately greeted with the familiar sound of music. Without a second thought, he made his way to the music room through well lit corridors. The room was designed in a similar way to the library as in it spanned the entire height of the property and linked the West Wing with the main house. Like the Library, the ground level was the only complete floor. All other levels were more like large balconies which circled the outer wall. A glass staircase connected each tier to the other. There were large, arched, plain glasses windows on every level which filled the rooms with light. Each level had it's own theme and musical instruments both old and new, were scattered about and mounted onto the wall. If you stood in the centre of the room and looked up you would be able to see the domed roof. On it, was an elaborate mural of magical songbirds created out of precious stones.

Scorpius didn't bother climbing the stairs. His destination was one of the comfortable white sofas which lined the room. He silently sank down into it and remained unnoticed as he listened to the source of music. Both his parents sat at a grand piano in the centre of the room playing a duet. They had their backs to him so that he knew that if he was silent, they wouldn't know that he was there.

It was an activity that very few people had the opportunity to witness. It brought a smile to his lips: the Daily Prophet would have a field day if they knew what life behind the doors of the manor was truly like. His usually severe looking father was the perfect picture of a doting husband.

In the midst of their duet their arms crossed. Draco took the opportunity to kiss his wife on the cheek. Scorpius could see his mother blush and heard her giggle. It was obvious that they were very much in love. Even after all the years they'd spent together, they still behaved as if their love was new and fresh.

Despite his young age, Scorpius knew that that was the kind of love he wanted for himself when he was older. He wanted a partner who would keep him on his toes and make every day they spent together an adventure. He wanted to love someone in the way his father loved his mother, but he wanted to be able to show his adoration publicly. He didn't understand how or why his parents acted so differently away from home.

He sighed without realising that he had done so. Two pair of eyes were immediately on him, they were wide with surprise. A second later their faces had softened and his parents smiled at him warmly. They beckoned him over and shifted on the custom made piano stool to make a space for him between them. He slipped into the space and his father patted him on the shoulder and his mother gave him a half hug. He felt so comfortable when he was with them. He was going to miss them dearly just as they would miss him.

Soon his father started to play a tune and it was one Scorpius recognised. The pair of them had composed it several years ago. Scorpius flexed his fingers and began playing alongside his father. Astoria Malfoy sat and listened to them for a few moments before she sang to them. It was moments like this which were kept away from the prying eyes of the reporters, moments that made them look human.

**I'd love to hear your thoughts on this story. Thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for reading and reviewing.**

**Chapter 3: Shenanigans on the Train **

The next days flew by. Soon Scorpius had once again said goodbye to his parents and had boarded the Hogwarts Express for his third year. He along with a few of his friends, left their compartment where they stowed their baggage. They walked through the carriages to see where the rest of their housemates were seated. After stopping and chatting to a few of girls in their year: Posie Montague; Morticia Avery and Abigail Vaisley, the train started on it's journey to Hogwarts.

The boys decided it best to return to their compartment where Duanne's sisters would now both be waiting. "I don't know why you want them to sit with us, they're a nightmare." Terence Goyle grumbled as he lagged behind them. Scorpius smirked knowingly. Goyle wasn't a fan of the twins because they outsmarted him on every turn. Not that Terence wasn't smart in his own way, it was just schoolwork didn't interest him. Scorpius and Duanne had learnt to be patient with Goyle. However the girls were blunt enough to show their disdain for him. The Slytherin common room was definitely going to be more entertaining with the two girls stirring up trouble.

"You are talking about my sisters Goyle. Have some respect." Duanne pointed out managing to keep his tone pleasant despite the authority mixed in with it. Goyle relented and they carried on chatting between themselves as they walked up the train aisle.

After a while Scorpius shut himself off from the conversation. His eyes lingered on a group of first years ahead of them. There were three of them, a boy and two girls. One of the girl's hair was an unusual shade of red which, he had only ever seen once in his life. That was discounting the endless daydreams he'd had about her over the last year. As he got closer there was no mistaking her, she was the girl from the platform the year before.

He felt triumphant that he had finally found her and also the need to make a good impression. He felt other things too, but he couldn't identify what they were. He headed forward, blocking out all sound, except for the thumping in his heart as it raced faster. Scorpius slipped passed the group decrepitly, so that his friends didn't notice anything was off. He peeked back at the redhead and saw the same innocent, angelic face he'd seen in his memory so many time before. However this time he was able to add more details. Her eyes were like bright green/blue orbs that dazzled when she smiled. There was also some shade of orange in her hair which made it so unusual.

He took a deep breath and was about to introduce himself when his companions shoved passed the group. Scorpius groaned when he saw Terance Goyle and Thomas Warrington leering at them: picking them as targets and searching for their weakest. Scorpius felt instantly deflated, there was no way good first impressions were going to be made now. He was going to have to play along with the boys.

Goyle sneered at the smallest of the group, a brown haired girl with a lost expression on her face. It was clear to him that the girl was new to finding out that magic really did exist. She was without a doubt a muggleborn.

"We better not stay here too long, it's full of _mudbloods_." Goyle spat as he eyed the small girl in disgust. Scorpius watched the small girl blush and lower her gaze to the floor. It was clear that she didn't understand the meaning of the term but Goyle's tone left no doubt in her mind that it was an insult. Scorpius quickly locked away the guilt he was feeling. He couldn't and wouldn't help the girl.

It was then that the redhead whirled around to face Goyle, with the grace and determination of an avenging angel, she reached for her wand. "Apologise now" she yelled, directing her wand at Goyle's chest. As Scorpius watched in complete awe of her bravery, he noticed her eyes were no longer a bluish green, but blazed like liquid gold.

Several students stopped and congregated around the scene that was about to unfold. Goyle looked stunned for a few moments, shocked by her quickness and by her gall. Knowing that his friends were there to back him up, the confidence crept back into his features. "What are you going to do about it _ickle firsty_, you can't use that thing yet." he mocked and Scorpius felt himself smirk despite his wishes.

His action drew the attention of the feisty redhead to him for the first time. He almost forgot to breath when she gazed at him, but then he saw something in her eyes like recognition and fear. Scorpius felt as if the room dropped a few degrees in temperature. He quickly assumed that the girl recognised him as a Malfoy and had, as many others had, placed him in a box with his family. Thinking no better of him than a piece of dung stuck to the bottom of her shoe.

Feeling utterly defeated and resentful of his families' past, and angry that she wasn't even going to give him a chance- he looked away from her and towards the boy in the group. He was tugging at the redhead's arm, trying to get her to back down but to no avail. His hair was a dark red and there was something familiar about his face. It wasn't long before Scorpius could place the resemblance of the boy with Rose Weasley. He felt utterly devastated when he concluded that the girl must also be a Weasley. The family all hung out together and from the was the boy was clinging to her, they were definitely family.

"Look Zabini, I think we've just found ourselves some more weasels to torment!" he said, slipping into his role as a Slytherin now that there was no where else to turn. "And you thought that since there hadn't been any of them last year, that we would have seen the last of them." He smirked turning to Duanne. His best friend laughed immediately and Scorpius saw the girl's eyes flicker to Duanne and then back at Goyle.

Goyle was leering at the girl again and her nose wrinkled with disgust. "Now I know why the little blood traitor took offence. Your family always did have a soft spot for mudbloods and muggles. Didn't one of your uncles breed with one of those apes, or would that be your father? Is it your mother little Weasel who's the mudblood?" Goyle taunted cruelly.

The boy's grip on the girl's arm tightened and she winced with pain. The boy's ears turned red and he glared at Goyle and gritted his teeth together. Scorpius saw the look of realisation dawn on Goyle and Warrington's faces. "I see we've been mistaken" Warrington grinned and Scorpius wished the boys would just shut up before the noise attracted the rest of the Weasley family.

Goyle nodded in agreement "I believe it's the other one that's half ape."

Scorpius saw all restraint leave the girl's body and she screamed "_petrificus totalus_" at the top of her lungs. To everyone's great surprise, Goyle went rigid and fell to the floor.

In the second that followed, Scorpius noticed that there were other Slytherins watching the encounter unfold. It reminded him of the hell they put him through and would put him through again if he didn't react in defence of a friend, even a foolish one. With his anger still stirring from the injustice of knowing that she had already made up her mind about disliking him despite not knowing him, he turned his own wand on the girl, "You're going to regret that you little brat."

For the first time, the girl looked uncertain. She was looking at the surrounding students and then back at him. The fear was back in her eyes and his hand shook with the effort to hold back the curse. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her, but he was concerned with how the rest of his house would react if he didn't.

He prayed for a way out of this and his answer soon came in the form of James Sirius Potter. Scorpius managed to hide his relief and stared at the black-haired boy. He walked up to the little redhead and place a hand on her shoulder. "Don't even think about it" he growled. Scorpius saw the look of pure hatred penetrating from the golden glare of his eyes but he managed to keep his own calm expression masked on his face. "You stay away from my sister Malfoy or you'll have me and my family to deal with."

Scorpius felt the colour drain from his face at the expression of shock on the girls face. Maybe he had been wrong about her, maybe she hadn't connected him to the Malfoy name. He felt the remorse wash over him and he knew that the girl was Lily whom his cousin talked so fondly of. He couldn't take back his actions now. He gazed unwavering at the girl- the one he so wanted to get to know- and lowered his wand. "I didn't realise the brat was your sister."

He wanted to be as far from them as possible. The girl he dreamt about was a Potter! If he'd only been brave enough and resilient enough to put up with the bullying instead of becoming the bully himself, then maybe things would have been different. Maybe then, the two of them could have been friends. He turned to Duanne and saw the amusement in his face and sighed. "Zabini, help me with Goyle." He ordered and Duanne bent down to hook an arm under one of Goyle's. Scorpius did the same with the other. And together they dragged Goyle's frozen body to their compartment as Warrington skulked behind them.

Sweat was dripping off his forehead when he finally reached their compartment. Goyle was a lot heavier than he had expected him to be. He felt no sympathy for the boy, if it hadn't been for him, that whole scene would not have transpired. He so much preferred to blame Goyle, than blame himself for his own shortcomings. Right now all he wanted, was to wipe all thoughts of Lily Potter permanently from his mind.

He dropped Goyle on the floor and stepped over him to reach a seat next to Magdalana. He wasn't going to be the one to release Goyle from the spell, he was afraid that he would get it wrong in his anger. The twins were sat either side of the compartment by the window. They'd been watching the boys enter with curiosity, although they held no concern for the boy in trouble. "What's wrong with him?" Margarita asked Scorpius.

She had a calming affect on his temper and he managed to smile at her. "The body binding spell, easy enough to cure." Scorpius replied.

She looked worried. "Is it usual to be attacked like that in Hogwarts?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"Not without provocation." He admitted and it seemed to appease her worries. They watched Duanne mutter the counter spell and Goyle had full use of his limps once again. He began shouting and complaining about the Potters while Duanne and Warrington listened on intently.

"What did he do?" The twins asked in unison. They were both looking at Scorpius now.

Scorpius sighed and looked to the others. They weren't listening so they wouldn't answer them. Scorpius didn't feel like talking about it so he playfully ruffled their hair and said: "Nothing to worry your pretty little heads about."

The girls both laughed. "Ok, thanks Scorpius" Margarita said and smiled. She was the only one of the Zabini family whom used his first name without fail. He liked that their relationship was so informal, even Duanne and him referred to each other by their last names most of the time.

As the train sped down the tracks, hours passed. Scorpius was alone with the two girls as the other boys had gone back to talk to Posie, Morticia and Abigail. "So what are you two looking forward to most?" Scorpius asked- they had been talking about Hogwarts for hours.

Margarita's eyes lit up with excitement, "The ghosts, I've never seen one before." She admitted and Scorpius smiled knowingly. Once she had accidentally walked through one of them, she wouldn't be that enthusiastic about them.

"And what about you Magdalana?"

"Learning how to use this thing I guess." she said with a shrug and picked her wand out of her pocket.

"That's not going to be hard." He assured her with confidence. Duanne was clever enough and the girls seemed even brighter than him. He was certain that the girls would do well and if they struggled at all, he would be there to help them. Although he didn't like to brag about it, he shared the top spot in their year with brainiac: Rose Weasley.

"What are you least looking forward to?" He asked, keeping the conversation going.

Margarita shuddered at his question and he would have regretted asking it, if he wasn't confident that he would be able to lessen her fears. "Sailing the lake." She admitted sheepishly, "Duanne told me about the _Giant Squid _and all the nasty creatures lurking in the waters. What if I fall in, I'll die!" She wailed, her voice raising at the end through her alarm.

Scorpius stood up and went to sit next to her. He put an arm around her shoulder and drew her in for a quick side hug. "No you won't. No one will let you come to any harm. First years wouldn't travel that way if it was unsafe."

"Why did you tell her that Malfoy, it would have been fun to tease her." Duanne complained as he entered the compartment with the other two following him like little, lost, ugly, lambs.

"Scorpius is a nice boy unlike you." Margarita complained although it was clear that she wasn't really angry with her brother.

Warrington sniggered and dropped into the seat nearest the door, "Looks like you have yourself a girlfriend!"

"Put a sock in it Warrington." Scorpius spat as his allocated daily amount of patience for the boy ran out.

"Scorpius is the big brother we should have had. Not one who'd let his friends tease his little sisters." Margarita said defensively but with a slightly teasing edge to her tone.

"Marge I'm hurt." Duanne said in utter shock.

Margarita's face lit up in a bright smile and she climbed over Scorpius to get to Duanne, "And I'm only kidding. You're the _bestest_ brother in the world. You both are." She added as she looked between Scorpius and Duanne.

With a grin, Scorpius returned to his seat next to Magdalana. She looked pensive as she gazed out of the train window.

"Are you worried about the lake too?" He asked, concerned.

She turned to him, her eyes full of the worry she was feeling. "No, I don't care about that." She began, "It's the sorting I don't want to do."

On overhearing the conversation. Duanne walked over to them, "Don't worry sis, you'll both be in Slytherin like me… and the rest of our family." Duanne said adamantly.

"But what if I'm not?" she stressed, clearly not convinced.

Duanne frowned and it was clear that he thought his sister was worrying over nothing. "You will be, there's no need to worry about it." He told her firmly and turned away leaving Magdalana to stare at his back.

Scorpius felt a wave of sympathy when she turned her dark doe eyes on him. "Scorpius, what do you think?" She whispered.

If it wasn't for the fact that this was the first time she'd used his first name, he could have probably told her, like Duanne, that there was no need for her to worry about not being in Slytherin. Instead, Scorpius sighed and looked to make sure that no one, not even Duanne and Margarita were listening. He gently placed a hand over hers and whispered, "I'll still like you even if you end up in Hufflepuff. It doesn't really matter to me what house you end up in. The others would get used to it as well, but don't tell anyone I said so." He added as if it was a secret to be shared between the two of them only.

She still looked uncertain but there was a small smile tugging at her lips. "Ok I wont, thanks." She whispered and that was the end of that conversation.

It wasn't long before the train arrived at Hogsmeade Station and the students disembarked. Warrington and Goyle headed towards the theastral drawn carriages to save a carriage for the four of them. Scorpius and Duanne waited on the platform to wish the Zabini twins good luck. Both boys gave each of the girls a quick hug before Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts, called the first years over to him.

Malfoy saw Magdalana shoot the half giant a nervous look and was quick to reassure her. "He's harmless, don't worry." He told her and she thanked him. Margarita was now less scared of the lake, she grabbed her sisters hand and led them in the direction the other first years headed. Just as he was about to leave, he saw the little redhead again. She was surrounded by a group of first years she looked to know. He made one last sigh of regret and then followed Duanne to the carriages.

**I'd love to hear your thoughts on this story. Thanks for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for reading and reviewing**

**Chapter 4: The Sorting and Thereafter**

Scorpius wandered into the Great Hall with the rest of the students. He headed to the Slytherin table in search for one of the better seats to view the sorting. He'd slept through the sorting the year before, however, this year he was going to pay more attention. As he sat down he felt someone staring at him. James Potter was scowling at him from the Gryffindor table. He arched his eyebrows at the black haired boy, knowing that his look of innocence would just antagonise him. He chuckled when the boy's brown eyes narrowed with hatred.

Their staring match didn't last long as their connection was broken by the first years being led down the centre aisle of the hall, obscuring their view. He waved at the Zabini twins as they passed him and offered them encouragement. As they took their position at the front of the hall, they stood near Lily Potter and her cousin, Rose's brother whom he couldn't remember the name of.

Despite his decision to ban Lily Potter from his mind, he was unable to keep his eyes off her. She looked terrified and there was a fake smile plastered on her lips. He knew it wasn't sincere as it didn't reach her eyes. They were wide with fright as they darted around the room lingering over the Gryffindor table. She seemed to be seeking comfort from her family members.

She must have found it as she began chuckling to herself. Her eyes began to roam the room again. She was fascinating to watch. When she smiled, truly smiled, her entire face lit up with joy. He had to use all of his efforts not to smile in response. As the Sorting Hat began to sing, Duanne nudged him in the ribs. "What was that for?" Scorpius inquired.

Duanne wore a smirk on his face. "Fancy a wager? A galleon on the Potter girl being in Hufflepuff. Her actions on the train clearly mark her as the unintelligent type."

Scorpius rolled his eyes, "She did manage to cast the body-binding spell. I'd say that requires brains. Maybe Ravenclaw but I doubt it. She'll be in Gryffindor like her brothers and cousins before her." He pointed out nonchalantly.

"Can you imagine if she gets sorted into Slytherin." Warrington chuckled cruelly.

Goyle sniggered with equal meanness in his tone. "Yeah, I'd like to get back at her for what she did. She wouldn't last a night in the Slytherin house."

"She's watching you Goyle! Do you think she senses all the ways you want to torture her?" Warrington sneered. They burst out laughing and looked towards the Potter girl.

Scorpius laughed along with the boys. Not that he thought Goyle would be able to get his own back, but because he had no doubt in his mind, that Lily would have the upper hand. If she was anything like her brothers, then she'd learn defensive spells quickly. It already looked as if she had a few surprises up her sleeves. If there was a fair fight between Goyle and the girl, then Lily would destroy him. However, Goyle was not known to fight fair and the others would be roped in to help him.

Scorpius glanced over to the Gryffindor table as the others discussed ways to seek their revenge. James was glaring at him again so he stubbornly glared back. When he looked away, Scorpius' eyes sought Albus'. He didn't glower at him the way James did, instead he looked uncomfortable as he avoided catching Scorpius' eyes.

"SLYTHERIN" Yelled the Sorting hat. Scorpius tore his eyes from the Gryffindor table as Beatrix Avery strode towards the Slytherin table. He applauded and cheered with the rest of his housemates. After that, Scorpius watched the sorting and avoiding exchanging venomous looks with the Potters. He smiled at both the Zabini girls as they stood with the other first years at the front of the hall. They still looked nervous but nothing above the levels shown by the other first years.

Every so often he locked eyes with Lily Potter. There was a mixture of anger and confusion radiating from her light hazel eyes. He was curious to find out where the Hat would sort her. Time seemed to fly by before Lily's name was called out by Professor Davies. Scorpius heard the murmurs that flooded around the hall. Everyone was curious about the youngest Potter after the news of her encounter with the Slytherins had spread throughout the school. She held his full attention after that, he didn't care if people caught him watching her. They wouldn't read anything into it.

As she sat on the stool, with the hat on her head, she stared at the crowd. As he watched her, the colour drained from her face as she listened to the hat's words. "NO!" She yelled in a horrified tone.

There were curious murmurs across the hall again. Scorpius silently hoped that she was going to be sorted into Slytherin. Not for her to be tortured, but so that he'd be able to talk to her without attracting the anger of his housemates. She may have a few hard days at first, however she seemed strong enough to withstand it. After marking her place in the house, it wouldn't matter that she was a Potter. She would be a Slytherin just like the rest of them.

As the hat made its decision, Scorpius found his eyes locking with hers. They were filled with fright and he couldn't stop the smirk which donned his face which had become a habit to seeing that emotion. _"GRYFFINDOR" _The hat yelled, and she finally looked away from him.

He was disappointed but noted the girl's relief about being sorted into the same house as her family. He watched her hand the Sorting Hat back to the Professor and turn towards the table on the far end of the hall. Her happiness morphed to anger as she turned her attention to the eldest Potter. She strode over to him with as much determination as she could muster and snatched the copy of the Daily Prophet out of his hand. She repeatedly struck him on the head with the object.

"What the hell Lils, you psycho!" Everyone heard James yell. He snatched the newspaper off her and held it beyond her reach.

She continued to glare at him and it was obvious that she wasn't aware that all the other students were watching and listening intently. "That was for jinxing me last night. That ridiculous hat-" She yelled and pointed towards the Sorting Hat. "-tried to put me in Slytherin. Slytherin James…SLY- THE-RIN!"

Scorpius burst out laughing with the rest of the observers, he couldn't help it. He wasn't laughing at her attacking James Potter like the other houses; He wasn't even laughing at the absurdity of a Potter being a Slytherin like the rest of his housemates; He was laughing at how cruel fate had been. The little redhead had come so close to be sorted into his house. That decision could have made his life so much better. He could have waited out her initial fury with him and then attempt to make amends. He sighed and met her furious gaze for a seconded before turning to watch the remainder of the Sorting.

Scorpius continued to watch the Sorting and applauded every time a student got sorted into Slytherin. He wasn't really interested though. His eyes kept flicking toward the Gryffindor table until a name of interest came up. "Zabini, Magdalana." Professor Davies called out. Scorpius watched Magdalana as she took her place on the stool. She looked confident at first, but then her confidence wavered. He knew what was coming before hat gave its answer.

"GRYFFINDOR." The hat roared and Magdalana immediately burst into tears. He tried to catch her eye, to let her know that it was ok, but Duanne had other ideas.

"What dragon dung!" He yelled as he stood up on the bench and stared at his sister in horror. "Make her take it again, that hat is broken." He insisted but Headmaster Croston silenced him with a wave of his hand. The room went into almost silence and Magdalana headed towards the Gryffindor table still sobbing. A minute later, Margarita was sorted into Slytherin.

Scorpius applauded with the rest of his housemates but his gaze lingered on the other twin. She was sitting talking to the youngest Potter. He wished he knew what they were saying, but they seemed friendly enough in their interactions. He knew that she would be worried, but at least she was making friends and didn't have to uphold the strict Slytherin rules. He turned his attention back to his friends, and the rest of his evening was spent trying to reason with Duanne.

The rest of the year was rather entertaining to go through. He was pleased to note that Magdalana seemed happy in her house. The rest of the Gryffindors didn't seem to mind that her family had been in Slytherin for generations. They treated her like one of them. She'd also become fast friends with the Lily Potter.

Duanne had a hard time adjusting as the rivalry that still existed between the houses, meant that no Slytherin could be friends with a Gryffindor; Not even a family member. Scorpius knew that Margarita was breaking the house rules by continuing her friendship with her sister but no one else seemed to notice. He was glad that she could be discreet about it as he didn't want her do go through all the crap he'd had to. Scorpius couldn't wait until he was influential enough to drop some of the archaic rules held by his house.

The two other girls Magdalana had made friends with were; Jessica Foxley; the muggle born from the train who had been sorted into Ravenclaw, and a little bubbly blonde Hufflepuff girl; Cordelia Longbottom. Goyle and Warrington practically waged war on the four first years. Scorpius didn't partake in the conflicts at first, but then Magdalana secretly met him in the quod one day. She'd been worried that he had thought she hated him now, and told him that it wasn't possible. He reassured her that it was ok, he was used to rivalry between the houses and it didn't bother him that she was happily defending herself. She had told him that it was ok for him to join in as well, if he did, then she wouldn't feel so bad about her own involvement.

From then on, Scorpius had joined in with the fights and enjoyed practicing his magic on such feisty and competent opponents. It earned him a few detentions and howlers from his father, but seeing the glee on Magdalana and the redhead's face when they managed to get one over his group, was totally worth it.

By the end of that year, he realised that it was going to be impossible to banish Lily Potter from his thoughts, so he gave up trying. Instead, he looked forward to their meetings, even when it ended with a trip to the Hospital Wing for himself.

When he entered his fourth year, a lot of the Slytherins whom had taunted him when he was younger, had left Hogwarts. He was now half way up the hierarchical snake ladder and none of the younger housemates would dare cause him any trouble. On a whim, he secretly began trying to fix his friendship with Rose. She was the only one though. He didn't dare try to work things out with the Potters just yet.

On the whole, the year went well except for an argument between him and the house Quidditch Captain in the first week. It resulted in him being suspended from the team. He and Duanne decided that they weren't going to provoke Magdalana's friends that year as it was causing problems between their friendship during the holidays. The Zabini children spent a lot of their holidays at the Malfoy manor and it was clear how uncomfortable Magdalana found it.

One conversation stood out clearly in his mind. Magdalana had told him that although she loved him like a brother, Lily Potter was her _best _friend. If it came down to things, she would choose Lily over the rest of them. Scorpius didn't blame her: She'd had it tough at home since she'd been sorted into Gryffindor. Being friends with Lily and connected with the Potters, would definitely ensure that she had a happier future. Scorpius and Duanne managed to call the other two boys into line and their interactions with the girls, were nothing more than light teasing.

His fifth year was pretty quiet. With his O.W.L.s that year, Scorpius spent most of his time studying. On the upside, he was back on the Slytherin Quidditch team! Duanne had joined him this time. His favourite game of the season was Slytherin versus Gryffindor. He was up against the three Potters and for the first time, he'd actually enjoyed goading them; Rose had not approved. By the end of the school year, he'd completed his O.W.L.s gaining an Outstanding in each except for an Exceeds Expectations in A History of Magic. He'd shared the top spot with non other than Rose Weasley!

His sixth year was a nightmare. Lily Potter had turned into the most beautiful creature he'd seen in his life. It was one thing, thinking of her as the innocent child she'd been, but quite another seeing the woman she was becoming. Everything about her now aggravated and frustrated him. The way she sighed when she was bored; an innocent flick of her waist length hair, revealing the pale skin of her neck; her dazzling smile which had him so captivated that he looked her way every time he heard her distinct laugh. She was driving him crazy!

He found himself attracted to her in ways he'd never experienced before. He hated her and yet he didn't. He did hate her boyfriend though. Eoin McLaggen was a sleaze, there was no way he was good enough for her. Every time he saw them together, all he wanted to do was send the boy to the Hospital Wing for the rest of the year. Scorpius' sixth year, was the year he first found out; he didn't handle jealousy well.

He started taking it out on unsuspecting victims and even Lily herself. Soon, Howlers from his father became a weekly occurrence but somehow they managed to keep the news from his mother.

The worst incident had resulted in Lily and himself falling into the Black Lake. After the shock of finding himself in the icy waters, he realised that Lily was being dragged beneath the water by a group of Grindylows. He risked everything to rescue her but when her brothers noticed her distress; They came to help. They'd all assumed that Scorpius was the cause of Lily's trouble and Scorpius had let them believe it. Things got a bit nasty after that and their parent's were summoned to Hogwarts.

The grilling from his father had not been pleasant. However, when Lily's father had confronted him about what had happened, Scorpius had reluctantly surrendered the memory of the event to him. It was that or be expelled from Hogwarts. After the Headmaster, Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter had watched what had actually occurred, they had been shocked. Scorpius was embarrassed that the legendary Harry Potter knew how he truly felt about his daughter. He'd had to beg him not to tell Lily. Scorpius didn't want her knowing that he had tried to save her. She preferred to think that he hated her and Scorpius was ok with that; for now. After the meeting, his and Lily's father had left the Headmaster's office muttering to each other.

When Scorpius had returned to lessons the next day, everyone was surprised to discover that he hadn't been expelled. James Potter was as aggravating a sod as ever after that, he kept looking at Scorpius suspiciously. Scorpius often wondered if the ridiculously observant James Potter had noticed the way he looked at Lily on the odd occasions that he let his guard down. Fortunately, he'd never confronted him about it.

Scorpius kept his head down and was relieved when the year ended.

**I'd love to hear your thoughts on this story. Thanks for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for reading and reviewing**

**Chapter 5: Back on the Hogwarts Express **

Scorpius spent his Summer holidays, trying to ignore the knowing glances his father shot him, every time they were in the same room. They were embarrassing and unnecessary. A father was not supposed to know his son's most protected of secrets, and even if he discovered it, he damn well shouldn't remind him of the fact every chance he got! He began to loath his feelings towards the redhead. He didn't want to have them anymore but he just didn't seem to be able to mute them.

As a result of his father's prying and his own frustration, Scorpius had accepted a summer placement at the Ministry. He found it a challenge working there, but that was to be expected. His family still had a bad reputation, which lingered after the war, despite everything they'd done since. The Malfoys' had donated a large amount of gold to St Mungo's Hospital, and an entire ward had been named after them. They'd also set up a charity many years ago, to help those effected by the war.

Hell, his father was even responsible for over half the Death Eaters who'd been apprehended and sentenced to life imprisonment! However, not many people knew that bit of information, for safety reasons. The Malfoy's didn't need more enemies, especially criminally insane ones.

If he harboured a little resentment over the fact that he still had his family's reputation to live down, then one could hardly blame him, could they? Unfortunately his experience so told him yes: they could! It didn't help that he had played his role as a cunning, prejudiced and prideful Slytherin, so well over the years. He'd convinced even himself. As a result of peoples' hostility towards him, he began to feel as if _being Slytherin _was the only way to go. Although he had to admit, I few changes to the house had to be made.

At present, Scorpius Malfoy sat in the second prefect compartment on the Hogwarts Express. He was about to enter his seventh and final year at Hogwarts. His mother was disappointed that he'd not been appointed the Head Boy position, but then, she didn't know about all the trouble he got into, on a regular basis. That position had been given to one Harrison Davies, a Ravenclaw whom happened to be the son of the Deputy Headmaster. Scorpius did not resent the young man, he hadn't wanted the position anyway- too much responsibility. Who would want the extra hassle? Albus Potter apparently had. Scorpius had seen him sulking on the platform earlier. A snigger escaped his lips at the thought of his former petulant best friend.

Rose Weasley had been made the Head Girl. She'd passed him the news via the spelled galleon they used to communicate with. It was the only way they could talk to each other without being caught. Not that Scorpius cared too much about being caught anymore. The remaining Slytherins wouldn't dare attempt to chastise him. They had all grown either to fear or admire him.

The secrecy of their friendship was now down to her. Whilst he was working over the summer, Rose had been travelling with her mother and cousin, Lily. She kept him up-to-date with all her news and even mentioned Lily once or twice in passing. Scorpius tried not to be so interested in what that little redhead was up to. It worked up to a point and at least Rose didn't know how he felt but didn't want to feel, about her cousin.

Scorpius glanced up at the other occupants in the compartment. The two sixth year prefects sat together, playing games to pass the time. Duanne lay across the bench in an indignant manner. He stared up at the ceiling and tossed his Quidditch Captain badge repeatedly in the air. He was talking to Scorpius in his usual lazy drawl. Scorpius was sat opposite and replied every time Duanne required a response. He was currently rattling on about his sisters, they had both been appointed prefects this year and were currently patrolling the train with the Head Boy.

The compartment door slid open and Posie Montague, the other seventh year Slytherin Prefect, entered the room. She was drinking from a bottle of pumpkin juice. Upon spotting Scorpius, she smiled saucily and came to sit beside him. Scorpius wouldn't really consider her a friend. She was more an admirer than anything else, although he didn't return her feelings. She was not particularly good looking, with her somewhat squashed facial features and dark straight hair. However, she was of pure blood descent and often strutted around the place, acting queen bee.

She lay in the seats next to him and rested her head in his lap. He wasn't shocked by her behaviour as it had become quite the norm. Instead, Scorpius absentmindedly brushed his hand against her side. He probably should have shoved her away by now, so not to lead her on. However, he was bored and knew Posie wouldn't listen anyway. She always came to him, seeking affection and sometimes something more. He never gave her what she wanted though. It would bring about a new set of complications which may have life long consequences. His grandfather was determined to have him engaged to a pureblood. If he knew that Scorpius had ever shown interest in one, he'd probably find himself betrothed before he graduated. That was definitely something he did not want to happen.

He let he head fall to the back of the seat and yawned. The compartment door suddenly burst open. His head jerked up at the sound. He could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the young feminine form of Lily Potter, leant against the now closed doors. She wasn't supposed to be there, was she? Magdalana had been appointed the Gryffindor prefect. Nevertheless, she was still there. Her eyes were closed, but he didn't need to see them, to know how much pain she was in.

He needed her to leave. He coughed, distracting her. He hoped she would come to here senses and return to the other compartment. His cough came out more strained than he intended but no one seemed to pick up on it. Her presence irked him as well as having an unsettling effect on his body. Adrenaline coursed through his veins causing his muscles to contract.

Her eyes snapped open and her watery, golden orbs darted around the room, taking in every detail of her new environment. It was his hope that, any minute now, she'd realise where she was and scram. Scorpius noticed the absence of her usual spark, he didn't like that. Lily wasn't supposed to ever look so pitiful, she had too much inner strength to look so broken. The realisation tugged on what little empathy he had and caused it to swell, before he managed to stamp down the emotion. He hated that he still cared, so much for getting over her.

When she laid eyes on him, that spark flickered back into existence. She wiped her tears away with the sleeves of her robes and fashioning a look of distain in their place. Scorpius managed to keep the venom in his gaze when he looked at her as he attempted to regain control. It felt as if every cell of his body was on fire. He always felt so agitated whenever she was near. Just another reason to abhor and avoid her.

Posie wriggled in his lap and tried to edge closer to him. He was annoyed by her actions, as he knew it was her trying to stake a claim on him. She held no claim over him and there was no way he was going to let her discover the effects his body was now suffering from. He didn't want her to think it was her who was the cause, but nor did he want her to discover that Lily was the cause. He needed to take action, and quick!

"Looky what we have here!" He exclaimed, letting the malicious delight drip from his tongue. He shoved Posie off him in the process. He heard her grunt and saw that Lily's eyes were drawn Slytherin girl briefly before flaring back at him. He walked towards her and it was clear that she saw him as a threat. He could almost see her mulling over the number of curses she was tempted to send his way. He smirked, the girl was as stubborn as ever.

He continued over to her and her eyes were intent on his face. He even made out the slight display of disappointment flicker in her eyes, when it became apparent that he wasn't going to start a duel with her. He almost laughed. Merlin help him, he loved the challenge he saw in the golden depths of her eyes. That fire she had when she did so, did nothing but enhance her desirability. _Merlin help him!_ He was not want to think of her like that.

He gazed down at her and wondered why the hell she had to be so bloody beautiful. It made scowling at her that much more difficult. Before he did something stupid, something shiny caught his eye. Slowly he reached towards the object. She stiffened slightly but that was the only act which betrayed how tense she was, to him. He flicked the badge pinned on her chest and turned to Duanne, "Look Zabini, I keep saying that it's foolishness rather than bravery that the Gryffindors value the most. It seems they're giving their captainship to children now." He sniggered, hoping the taunt would have her returning to the other compartment and leaving them in peace.

He didn't have time to react, it happened in a flash. One minute he was being an idiot, mocking Lily when her temper was aflame. The next, her fist connected with his nose with a loud crack and he was sprawled across the floor.

He saw red, literally! Not only was his anger present at full force, but blood was gushing from his nose. "That bloody bitch broke my nose!" He spluttered through a mouthful of blood. It sprayed onto his expensive white cotton shirt. He couldn't believe that _she_ had resorted to physically violence. Normally she would just walk away after a comment like that, especially since she didn't have her friends to back her up. There must have been something about what he'd just said that irked her more than usual.

Pain broke through the thin veil of shock and Posie came rushing to his side. He tried to push the girl away from him but she was adamant about being helpful, instead she was a bloody hindrance!

Other than Posie's mutterings, the compartment was silent. His shock and his anger faded slightly. He began to grow concerned that some of the other Slytherin's would attack the lone Gryffindor. It would serve her right but wouldn't end well for any of them. He saw the two sixth years seemed to be reacting to the scene. They looked as if they were itching for a fight. He managed to catch their attention and managed to stop them with a single glower. They heeded the warning and obeyed as they returned to their game.

The tension in the air was still thick. Scorpius attempted to stop the bleeding by pinching his nose. It didn't have the desired affect. A shooting pain surged through him, making his eyes water.

"Looks like your choices are limited." He heard Zabini remark in a smooth cool voice. Lily sighed and Scorpius found her wand being pointed at his face. He could see her decision in her eyes. Whatever had driven her into their compartment, was not something she wanted to go back to.

Posie was less quick to catch on. She sprawled protectively over him, knocking the air out of his lungs. Scorpius tried to push her off him, he needed to stop the blood which was still gushing out of his nose. "Move Posie, she's not foolish enough to curse him." He heard Duanne order and thankfully Posie complied.

When his liquid silver eyes met liquid gold ones, he saw the gleam in hers which told him for a split second, she considered stunning him. He arched a single platinum brow and lowered his hand from his nose. To be fair, he couldn't blame her. He knew he was being an aggravating sod. However he couldn't seem to help but act like a prat when she was near. It was as if someone had forced their wand up his nose and scrambled his brains. He couldn't believe that he had been so naive to thinks things would have changed now that he knew he didn't _want_ to be attracted to her.

Finally, she waved her hand and a loud crack sounded. He couldn't prevent the yelp which escaped his lips when his nose cracked into place. He touched it tentatively, it felt ok. He then turned his threatening gaze on her, warning her not to try that again. Lily arched a crimson eyebrow and conjured a white handkerchief, a peace offering and a promise of a temporary truce, until they stepped foot on Hogwarts soil once again.

Scorpius wasn't sure that he wanted a truce. Regardless, he snatched the handkerchief out of her hands and heard Duanne chuckle from where he sat on the bench. He used the small sheet of cotton to wipe the blood from his face. Posie was back again with her incessant fussing. He pushed her away forcefully this time and moved to sit next to Duanne. He saw Posie glare at Lily, as if she was to blame for the cold shoulder he had given her and went to join the two students by the window. He just had to smirk at that! Maybe having Lily in their compartment could have its benefits.

Scorpius sat in the seat next to Duanne now that he wasn't sprawled across it. Lily could have sat anywhere but for some reason she chose to sit in the seat Posie and himself had previously occupied. He wondered about her motives, she seemed benign though, she just stared up at the ceiling and began humming to herself.

Scorpius wiped the remainder of the blood away and used his wand to vanish the rest before pocketing the handkerchief. He was suddenly distracted by the deep echo of laughter. He noticed Duanne had caught Lily's attention as well as his. She was staring at the other man with a scheming glint in her eyes. Scorpius stopped the groan that was about to escape his lips. He didn't like the way Lily was regarding his best friend, but neither did he like that appraising look Duanne wore when he looked at her. Surely he must be seeing things! There was no way this was actually happening.

The very idea was absurd. Frowning, he tried to ignore her as she stood up. She de-robed, revealing the school skirt and shirt she wore underneath. She lay her robe across the seat, bending slightly as she did so. The summer had certainly made a difference to her figure. Her soft curves were more pronounced as she had filled out in all the right places. It may have had something to do with all the rich food she'd tasted on her travels, but she still had her fine quidditch physique. He took a sharp intake of breath which was luckily disguised as Duanne happened to do the same at precisely the same moment. She seemed to be oblivious but it could have been an act.

Scorpius tried to tear his eyes away from her but they didn't obey. He unwillingly watched her retrieve a book of some sorts from her bag along with a quill and a box of Berty Botts Every Flavour Beans. He'd noticed that she carried that book around with her a lot. She was always scribbling in it when she was either bored or alone. He was curious to know what was in it but he squashed the urge to ask her.

She was looking at them now, her hazel eyes appeared more green than gold now that she wasn't angry. She stretched as she lifted her bag onto the rack above them. Scorpius found himself staring at her flat, alabaster toned, midriff which was bare now that her shirt had rode upwards. His blood seemed to heat up and he managed to tear his eyes away. He quickly made his expression neutral before anyone could notice. He edged away from her, hoping that a little distance would help settle him.

"What the hell is that?" Duanne asked suddenly and Scorpius found his attention reluctantly drawn to her again.

"What?" She snapped, taking a few steps backwards.

Duanne pointed at her belly button and Scorpius tried not to stare at her bared midriff. "That thing sticking out of your navel?"

Lily lifted her shirt slightly revealing more skin and flicked at the silver bar with a baby pink jewelled lily on one end. Scorpius' eyes lingered on her bare skin for a split second. Duanne held Lily's full attention so she didn't notice him looking. He supposed he had to be grateful for that, no matter how angry he was for his lack of self control.

"Duh, it's a piercing." She stated matter of factly.

"A what?" Duanne asked in a confused manner. Scorpius rolled his eyes, his friend was being rather slow today. Many witches and wizards had piercings, although they were usually localised to their ears.

Scorpius grabbed a book out of his bag so that he had something to distract him the sight of Lily. She let out a sigh and Scorpius felt all of his muscles tense. She carried on the conversation with Duanne. "It's a form of muggle jewellery. They get a needle…a sharp piece of metal and they shove it through the skin. They then put a jewelled rod in it's place."

"That's barbaric" Duanne gasped. Scorpius had to admit, the process made him a little sick when he thought about it.

"That's muggles for you." Scorpius sneered without hesitation. His agitation with the duo was growing. He refused to look at them and stared intently at the pages of his book without seeing the lettering.

"Play nice Malfoy." Lily chimed and playfully stroked his cheek with a manicured nail. He flinched at her touch as it sent a prickling sensation across his skin. Luckily she didn't seem to notice. Scorpius held his breath as she continued. "You can return to your usual dour self once we get to school." He glowered at her, how could he not? She looked so smug after flirting with his best friend. He managed to resist the urge to throttle them both and looked away.

She shrugged and sat herself on top of her school robes. She curled her feet under her and began scribbling in her jotter whilst, he tried to concentrate on his own book.

"Lily?" Duanne asked after some time of silence.

"Duanne?" She replied curtly. Scorpius tried to block out their conversation but he found it an impossible task. He ended peering over the top of his book and watching them discreetly.

"Want one?" Duanne asked reaching over and offering her a chocolate frog.

She returned his grin with a flirtatious one of her own, she leant towards them and looked at it suspiciously. "I don't think so they kind of creep me out. They move in such a lifelike way that the thought of eating one…" she trailed off and shuddered.

Duanne chuckled and offered her a liquorice wand instead. It seemed to appeal to her more than the chocolate frog. "Sure, I trust you've not poisoned it" she said, taking the sweet from him.

She leant back again in satisfaction and sucked on the liquorice wand savouring its taste. Scorpius felt his facial features tighten as she did so. Did she have to act for provocatively? He supposed that she might actually be ignorant of how her actions could be interpreted by a man. All sorts of sinful images were flashing through his mind. He stared stonily at the duo. He couldn't believe Duanne was talking to her after all the crap he had put Scorpius through when he had dared be friends with a Gryffindor.

"Potter?" Zabini croaked referring to her by her last name as usual.

"Yes Zabini?" She smiled expectantly.

"Why are you here and not with your precious Gryffindors? You guys tend to hang around in packs especially you Potters and Weasleys."

Lily frowned, the sourness seeping back into her tone "And you Slytherin's don't? Here I thought you were quite happy with this little truce? I guess not" She got up from her seat, snatched her things and headed for the door. Scorpius felt relieved, she was leaving until Duanne had other ideas.

"Lily wait." Duanne grabbed hold of her arm preventing her from walking away. She glared at his hand and then towards the door. She suddenly went very pale. So pale she looked sickly. She reached for her wand and sent a spell at the door. The glass transformed into solid metal before their eyes. Scorpius managed to catch a glimpse of Lily's ex boyfriend embracing a Hufflepuff girl. He shook his head lowering his gaze to the damn book he still held.

She was moping over an idiot, an idiot who had been foolish enough to let he go. Suddenly her motives towards Duanne seemed clear to him. He was a rebound interest, someone to make the Gryffindor male jealous. Scorpius didn't know how to feel about that. Relieved that her interest wasn't genuine or annoyed that she was leading on his best friend.

Suddenly, the door creaked opened. "Lily!" a searching voice sounded. Scorpius recognised that voice. It belonged to Rose Weasley. He risked a glance in her direction. Rose was a pretty little thing. She was not the beauty Lily was, but she was attractive in a cute sort of way. Her peach toned skin was splattered with freckles, her hair was a mass of auburn curls and her coffee coloured eyes were large and the most dominant feature of her face. They were currently filled with concern when she gazed at her youngest cousin.

"There's no need to go defacing school property!" She told her and then Scorpius found Rose's brown eyes lock with his for a moment. He noticed the blush tint her cheeks and he looked away but continued to eavesdrop on their conversation. "You wont be able to hide it from your brother if you keep acting like this sweety. He's already guessed that something is up, he's not stupid you know." Scorpius thought that was debatable, Albus could be pretty thick when it came to things of importance.

No matter how much he liked the new Gryffindor, he wasn't impressed with them invading his compartment. "Maybe we should sit elsewhere, they seem to be dumping the trash in here." Scorpius sniggered to Duanne whom was staring at the floor.

Duanne would have usually laughed and agreed with him but instead he punched him in the arm. He grunted and at the same time felt his charmed galleon burn in his pocket as a result of Rose's anger. He was going to pay for that remark later. He turned to Duanne and saw the resolve on his face, "What? Oh you gotta be shitting me." He complained, rubbing the sore spot of his arm. Duanne wasn't even making any effort to try and hide his sudden admiration for the younger Gryffindor girl. Scorpius glared at him indignantly before he looked away.

Rose met his eyes again and hers narrowed, he nodded slightly acknowledging her anger. After that, the girls chose to ignore them as they spoke in hushed voices. Scorpius had no intention of talking to Duanne for a while. He wanted to murder him and since he did not desire spending the rest of his life in Azkaban, he needed to cool off. He started reading his book for real this time. He felt betrayed. Duanne had never let him down like this before, he was the Slytherin his age, whom he trusted.

Scorpius continued to brood, but it wasn't long before Harrison Davies led the newly appointed prefects through the compartment. It appeared that all of Lily's friends had been made prefects as well. They didn't follow the Head Boy into the first compartment. Instead they joined Lily and Rose as they moved to the other side of the compartment to where the Slytherins' sat. 'And he thought his day couldn't get any better' he contemplated sarcastically.

Margarita sat in the seat Lily had previously occupied and began talking to Duanne. Scorpius responded only when a question was asked directly. He never let down his guard, he didn't trust his ability to keep a coherent conversation with the little redhead in the compartment.

The rest of the journey flew by and soon the train was pulling up into the platform in Hogsmeade. The older students climbed into the thestral drawn carriages which took them to the castle. The Slytherin prefects all got into the same carriage. Scorpius sat between the Zabini siblings whilst Posie sat across from him, trying to catch his eyes. He was determined to look anywhere but her as he currently didn't have the temperament to deal with her.

When the carriage pulled up at the castle gates. Scorpius was the first to disembark. He stormed into the Great Hall in a fowl mood. Duanne joined him with Thomas Warrington and Terrence Goyle. The latter two spent their journey with the other Slytherins since they were unable to enter the prefects compartment. They were well aware of the dark vibes emanating from their friend. They made no effort to counteract his demeanour knowing from experience that it wouldn't end well for them.

It had begun the year before, Scorpius's mood swings. Whenever Scorpius brooded like that, it was best not to interrupt him. He could lash out regardless of their motives, he packed on hell of a punch when the need arose. Even Posie knew to back off when ever he was like this.

They took their seats at the Slytherin table and waited for the Sorting to occur. The feast was just like every year except he found Duanne glancing over at the Gryffindor table in a more favourable manner than usual.

Scorpius lost his appetite and left the hall before the others. As he wandered down an empty corridor he found himself being dragged into and empty classroom. He really hoped it wasn't Posie trying to make her move again. He turned to the person who had dragged him into the room. Without warning, he felt the slap to his left cheek.

He cursed, he was fed up with people hitting him today. The skin burned and he glared at the person who'd assaulted him. When he saw the hurt look in Rose's face his temper fizzled out. "I'm sorry" He began sincerely.

She continued to glare at him and ignored his apology. She prodded him sharply in his chest. "Your situation doesn't give you the right to be an arse to me! If you do it again, I'm done!" She said with finality in her tone.

He grimaced, "I swear I wont do it again." He assured her. She didn't look convinced so he carefully tugged her arm, pulling her into a gentle embrace. She felt stiff in his arms. "I really am sorry." He sighed into her soft curls. Slowly, she relaxed and returned the hug briefly before she left the classroom and returned to the Great Hall. He watched her leave before he made his way to the Slytherin common room alone.

Later that night, after hours of brooding in the common room which had an intimidating effect on his housemates, he retired to his room. He lay down and drew the curtains around his four poster bed. He held the handkerchief Lily had offered him on the train. He had no idea why he kept it. It was no longer stained with his blood. He ran his thumb over the fabric of one of its corners and felt an embossed pattern.

Casting lumos, he examined the detail more closely. In the corner, created by delicate stitches, was a miniature image of a lily. He stared at it for a few moments before he tucked it under his pillow and climbed under the covers. He really needed his head sorting out. There was no point of feeling that way about a girl who clearly hated him, not unless he could somehow change the girl's opinion of him. However, he wasn't sure if he even wanted to change her opinion of him. He sighed and listened to the snores of the three Slytherin males he shared the room with. "Nox" he muttered and was plunged into darkness. It took a while, but he eventually succumbed to sleep.

**I'd love to hear your thoughts on this story. Thanks for reading.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you for reading and reviewing**

**Chapter 6: Verbal diarrhoea **

Scorpius' first week back at Hogwarts had been a bad one. His schedule was horrific. Why he had to go and choose six NEWTs to study was beyond him. It bordered on the insane. He could see things only getting worse as the year progressed. Despite this, he couldn't decide which subject to drop. He hoped that managing his schedule would be easier to handle if he wasn't in such a foul mood.

He was grossly pissed off with his best friend who seemed adamant to smile and wink at the vivacious redhead who was the bane of his existence. She seemed to be enjoying it too. That irritated him more than the feeling of betrayal he experienced toward Duanne. After years of indifference and hostility she's suddenly showing an interest in the tall, dark, handsome one! Typical women!

He knew he was a victim to the foul emotion of jealousy, but frankly, he didn't care.

Posie was also getting on his last nerve with her possessiveness. She had no right to stamp her claim on him and if she wasn't careful, he was going to unleash all his suppressed frustrations out on her. The aftermath certainly wouldn't be pretty that's for sure, but at least he'd have one less nuisance in his life.

As soon as the thought came to him, he reconsidered. If anything happened to Posie then the head of House; Professor Montague, would be out for his blood. People having relatives in this school was a damn inconvenience. He was only thankful that his own Aunt wasn't one to talk about work when she visited his mother. He'd be in so much trouble if half the things he got involved with at school got to his mother's ears.

"It's a nice day. Let's go outside." Duanne suggested coming across Scorpius in the common room.

Scorpius gave his friend a hard look which the other pretended not to notice. He just grinned cheerfully and Scorpius had the urge to wipe the smile off his face. All he felt like doing was brooding alone in the common room, not basking in the sunshine with the others.

However Duanne would not take no for an answer. So Scorpius found himself making his way to the castle grounds besides his best friend, while Warrington and Goyle herded after them like very ugly, menacing sheep.

His mood didn't get any brighter out in the sunshine. He spotted the last person he wanted to see over by lake with her little posse minus the blonde midget. He spotted that one too, a fair distance away talking to Rose's brother Hugo. There seemed to be some serious flirting going on there and Scorpius actually felt sorry for the bloke. The Longbottom girl really was irritating with all her perkiness. He wondered how Magdalana stomached being around her so much. Surely the blonde got on her nerves as well.

A wide grin spread over Duanne's face as he spotted the girls a little after Scorpius. He gave Scorpius a look and headed directly for them before Scorpius could stop him. Growling irritably, Scorpius followed suit. Behind them, Warrington and Goyle shrugged at each other not knowing exactly what was going on.

The irritating blonde had joined the girls by the time they were in ears shot. They picked up on parts of the conversation.

"What was that with you and Hugo?" Lily was asking irritably.

"Oh nothing, Just wishing him good luck in quidditch practice tomorrow."

Then why does he look like that?"

.

"Like what?"

"Like a stunned beetroot, that's what." Maggie explained. Scorpius couldn't resist looking towards the Gryffindor boy. His face really was a vivid purplish mess. It was a good job he wasn't a redhead. The combination would not mix well.

"Eww Eww Ewwww, I feel sick!" Lily complained feigning retching noises. Scorpius gained a kick of vindictive pleasure at the redhead's displeasure over her friends interest in her cousin. It served her right.

The words spilled from his lips before he had chance to restrain them. "Do you smell it too Potter. I thought you'd lost your sense of smell, how do you stand being around that all day?" He regretted his words instantly, even his action of flicking his gaze towards Jess.

Without hesitation the four girls turned their wands towards him and blasted him with a combination of spells.

If he had time to register his last thought before unconsciousness claimed him. It would have been along the lines of acknowledging he deserved the jinxes flying his way after this latest bout of verbal diarrhoea.

Being in a foul mood always did land him in trouble.

X

"Welcome back Mr Malfoy!" Were the first word Scorpius heard when he regained consciousness. The school's Healer Madam Bones was fussing over him. Scorpius actually liked and respected this woman. She's been the only staff member at Hogwarts other than his Aunt, who didn't hold the mistakes of his relatives before him, against him.

Sitting up, Scorpius raised his hand to his face startled by what he felt there. "What the-?"

He began and noticed Duanne sitting by him with a mirror in his hand. Scorpius took it from him and examined his reflection. Tiny hairy tentacles protruding sporadically over his face and body. He stared horrified ad the sight as his anger headed towards boiling point despite knowing that he deserved their retaliation. He was ready to kill someone for this, or at least cause someone bodily harm. He scanned the room for the other two Slytherins who usually followed him everywhere. They were inconveniently absent, probably in the Great Hall; eating.

Scorpius wasn't exactly happy with that. Warrington was never there when he needed him, but always there when he couldn't care less. That was one imbecile he could trust to make a smart alec comment giving him and excuse to break his nose.

Duanne smirked reading his friend's thoughts but wisely kept quiet. There was no way he was attracting the blonde's attention when he was in one of his moods. He valued his life and his looks too much for that.

Unaware of the tension dripping off the Slytherin, Madam Bones continued to fuss. "Take these potions. They really made a mess of you this time." She sighed sympathetically handing him a collection of healing potions. "They won't eradicate all the scars I'm afraid, but they should fade naturally in time." She said and watched him swallow one potion after the other. Each concoction was even more vile than the one before it. He shuddered unpleasantly but at least his skin was smooth by the end of it. She then handed him a slab of chocolate. "Here, eat this! It will take the edge off and have you feeling yourself in no time."

She was right.

Standing up to leave after swallowing a mouthful of chocolate, he straightened his robes. Tucked within the layers was a transfigured lily head. There was no doubt in his mind who the flower belonged to. He should had disposed of it but instead, he found himself slipping it into one of his many pockets.

"Come on, we've got a date in the Headmasters office." Duanne informed him as they left the Hospital wing.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Scorpius grumbled. He couldn't see how his day could get any worse. This was one week he couldn't wait to end.

Duanne laughed in his usual good humour. "I'm afraid not. The old coot saw the whole thing. Seems to think Goyle, Warrington and I also deserve to be punished. They're meeting us outside his office."

Scorpius grimace. That wasn't going to go down well with his friends. Not that he really cared what Warrington or Goyle thought of him. Still, the detention they were bound to get was going to be highly inconvenient.

x

On their way to meet the others, they came across someone they were quite surprised hadn't come to find them earlier. Albus Potter was stalking the hallway obviously hankering after a glimpse of Scorpius after his latest run in with his little sister. Scorpius was in no mood to take any of the Gryffindor's chat. "Out of my way Potty." He snapped and glared at the look of disappointment on the other man's face. Scorpius was instantly pleased that the dimly lit hallways hid the faint circular scars Madame Bones hadn't been able to remove.

As Duanne had claimed, Warrington and Goyle stood outside the Headmasters office resembling statues of two carved trolls. There was a quick nod of acknowledgement between the four of them before they made their way up the spiral staircase.

By the sound of it, the girls had made it up to the office before them. Lily was taunting the portrait of Severus Snape as they entered. "Making enemies with portraits now?" Scorpius asked, his previous annoyance still evident in his tone and manner.

Lily span on her heel and faced him with a venomous glare. She clearly didn't appreciate the interruption. To bad for her. He brushed a platinum strand of hair behind his ear with his hand, suspicious of the way the redhead was now regarding him. With a mischievously gleam in her eyes, Lily stroked his scarred cheek "Jealous Malfoy, don't worry, no one can replace you as enemy number one" She beamed teasingly.

His narrowed his eyes at her and batted her hand away from his face. "Get your filthy hands off me." He spat, suffering another bout of verbal diarrhoea. He really needed to get that under control.

Lily backed off holding her hands up apologetically, she was wise enough not to provoke him here of all places. Then again, she might not be. She was still grinning. "Ok ok, chill." She said and dismissed him in favour of his friend.

She flashed him one of her dazzling smiles, "Hey Zabini". Duanne faltered momentarily stunned. To Scorpius surprise, Duanne held his hand out for Lily. She shook it gladly.

His temper swelling again, Scorpius jabbed Duanne sharply in the ribs with a look on his face that clearly asked; _what the hell are you doing?_ Duanne shrugged apologetically, still in a slight daze. It was ridiculous the effect she had on people when she turned on the charm. Especially since there was no Veela blood running through her veins unlike several of her cousins. Merlin help the human race if she had.

Lily looked smug as she dismissed them both in favour of her friends. Scorpius was thankful of the Headmaster's appearance. He didn't know what he would have done at the small one's next words if he wasn't under the teacher's watchful eye. He knew there was a reason my he disliked the blonde midget. - "I see your brother isn't complaining about Lily's dirty hands"

Scorpius turned to see the Headmaster as the blonde's words ripped painfully through him. Professor Croston was flanked by the Head of House for both Gryffindor and Slytherin. Professor Longbottom and Professor Montague gave then all the once over before descended down the spiral staircase.

"What am I going to do with you?" Professor Croston asked and gave an exasperated sigh when he took in the sight of them.

"Give us a slap on the wrist and let us go?"

Everyone's gaze suddenly shot towards Magdalana. Scorpius had to admire her gumption for the outburst. Only a Gryffindor would make a comment like that.

The Headmaster didn't appear to share his admiration. "Not quite Miss Zabini." He scowled, "I can't simply ignore this little _vendetta_ you've got going on any longer." He spoke mainly to Lily and Scorpius when he said this, "It's been going on long enough. You're going to have to learn to work together in harmony."

Scorpius heard Lily try to get the Headmaster's attention but he simply ignored her. His attention was on the irritatingly perky blonde and Goyle. "Miss Longbottom and Mr Goyle," He motioned for them to step forward and they complied hesitantly. The perky little blonde did not seem at all happy to be paired with Goyle. She probably found him the most intimidation of the group. He was practically a giant compared to the midget. "

You will go to the hospital wing where Madame Bones is waiting for you." The Headmaster informed them, "You two will spend this evening and all other evenings for the next four weeks in detention there. You will sterilize every inch of the hospital wing without the use of magic. Do I make myself clear?" He finished in a stern voice.

They looked equally displeased by their assignment but they nodded and muttered "Yes Professor" in response. Professor Croston nodded and called the next pair.

"Miss Zabini and Mr Warrington," Professor Croston continued and Magdalana and Thomas stepped forwards, "You will join Professor Greengrass in the dungeons. Her store room needs replenishing and the ingredients prepared for use in potions class. You will assist her. The same schedule applies for you." Scorpius managed to stop the groan he threatened to release. He guessed it was a little too much to ask for him to have his detentions under his Aunt's supervision.

"But Sir?" Magdalana objected. Scorpius' attention was drawn by her distress. She appeared to be staring down at her nails. He rolled his eyes automatically. Magdalena was so different from her twin. Although they could both be as vain and arrogant as the other, like any other pure-blooded female he knew, Margarita wasn't afraid to be less than perfect in appearance. It was probably why she was the better Quidditch player. Margarita would be out there practicing no matter the weather but Magdalana flatly refused to get messed up. Instead she built up her indifference towards the game.

"You will do this without complaining Miss Zabini, if you were so worried about breaking you nails then you shouldn't have broken school rules in the first place." The Headmaster barked. Scorpius saw the venom in her black eyes which she was trying so hard to hide.

"Yes professor." Maggie agreed stiffly. The Gryffindors may have managed to soften her over the years but she still had bite.

Scorpius waited for the Headmaster to call another pair. He'd be put with either Lily or the muggleborn. Neither option appealed to him right now. He knew if paired with the Foxley girl, he'd end up apologising to the brainiac and that wouldn't do his facade any good. If Paired with Lily, who the hell knew what could happen. They were both too damn unpredictable when together, even worse when their tempers were faired and it was obvious that hers was as loosely contained as his own currently was.

"Miss Foxley and Mr Zabini-"

Scorpius felt like hexing the Professor for that announcement. Hell, he felt like hexing his best friend for what the skinny brunette said next. She turned to Lily and actually apologised for being paired with Duanne. It was obviously common knowledge between the group that their leader carried a torch for the eldest Zabini sibling.

Scorpius' mood couldn't be much worse as the Headmaster informed Duanne and the girl that their detention would be in the Forbidden Forest. He was only vaguely aware that the Headmaster had dismissed the six students leaving only Lily and himself in his presence.

Scorpius regarded the Headmaster coldly, he certainly wasn't his favourite person right now. "Now you two, you two!" He half screamed. Scorpius wasn't intimidated in the slightest but Lily shrank back from the sound. "Never before have I seen a pair who has such little regard for themselves, their friends and Hogwarts. I would have thought things would have changed after the incident at the lake last year." He shook his head disappointedly and shot Scorpius a knowing stare.

Scorpius met his gaze defiantly, keeping his expression from showing any trace of emotion. The Headmaster had no right to attempt to manipulate his behaviour like that. He could punish him with whatever detention task he wanted, but not ever let on what he knew about what truly happened that day at the lake.

Professor Croston severed eye contact as he took a deep breath and continued in a slightly calmer tone "Now I have spoken to your Head of Houses and they both agree with me. Hogwarts will not tolerate your behaviour. You are going to have to curb this hostility you have towards each other or you will be on the next train home. Do I make myself clear?" He asked sharply.

Scorpius didn't take the threat too well. Professor Montague was always looking for an excuse to send him packing. His father was responsible for Montague's cousin's brief spell in Azkaban all those years ago. He also didn't believe that forcing them to work together would make a blind piece of difference.

He spared Lily a sideways glance. She seemed nervous; Good. She deserved to be. He also saw the same scepticism mirrored in her eyes. Even with the threat of expulsion it was doubtful that they could put their differences aside. He would have to bring down his defences and show her a glimpse of the real him if they were ever going to get along. He was not prepared to do that.

"Yes professor." Scorpius gritted out in response.

Professor Croston pursed his lips as he observed them, "Ok, Madame Swats is waiting for you in the library. You will be manually sifting through every book to make sure they are all accounted for, in their correct place and in tip top condition. If they are not then you will restore them. You will erase any graffiti and repair and replicate any torn out pages. I will allow you use of magic for restoration purposes only." He added.

Scorpius all but gaped at the Headmaster. Had the old fool lost the plot. His schedule was already jam packed with NEWTs and Quidditich. With detentions on top of that there was no way he'd be able to schedule in actually having a life. "But Professor that will take months, maybe years!" Scorpius interrupted coldly and he was displeased to hear the horror in his tone.

"Then you will be in detention until you graduate Mr. Malfoy." Professor Croston replied sharply whilst Scorpius resisted the urge to lay into him with a verbal assault. "Your detentions will take place every weekday in the evening."

Scorpius clenched his hands to stop them from itching towards his wand. The old man had seriously cracked over the summer.

"But what about quidditch? I have practice in the evenings." Lily complained and Scorpius was glad to hear the feeling of injustice in her tone. It wasn't just him that thought the whole thing was unfair.

Professor Croston did not look sympathetic in the least "You will have to practice on weekends or before class, now off you go." Just like that they had been dismissed.

Scorpius silently fumed all the way down to the library while Lily didn't appear to know what was going on around her.

**I'd love to hear your thoughts on this story. Thanks for reading.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you for reading and reviewing.**

**Chapter 7: Detention **

As soon as Scorpius entered the library with Lily by his side, he met the cold hard gaze of the School's librarian Madam Swats. She was wearing her usual drab clothing that did nothing for her. Grey dress robes covered her bulky frame and made her look insipid. Mousy blonde hair was scraped off her stern face into a severe bun and her hawk-like expression clearly stated that she was expecting trouble.

Arms folded tightly she began pacing past shelves after shelves of ancient looking books until she reached a table containing a collection of instruments. "You will handle each of the tomes with the greatest care and you will not disturb anyone do you hear me? I will not tolerate you being a nuisance." She informed them in a low menacing tone which she couldn't really pull off. There wasn't an ounce of Slytherin blood in her, so that came as no surprise. "This will be all you need to get the job done. Restoration equipment and an inventory of the entire library's collection apart from the restricted section are provided. You do not have permission to enter there." She finished with a hard look in Scorpius' direction.

It took a lot of effort for Scorpius not to roll her eyes. He'd only entered there once with out a professors permission and that wasn't even to look at any of the ancient manuscripts there. He was there to see Rose and she had had permission.

Once the librarian waddled back to her post, the duo got to work. Since the library and paperwork was organised in alphabetical order of subject, it was logical that they began in the Ancient Runes section.

They stiffly agreed that Lily would climb up a ladder and check through the book on each row to see which of them need repairing. She would then tell Scorpius what needed doing and the books would be piled on the nearby desk. Scorpius had set up their work station and made a list of tasks the needed to carry out from the information Lily gave him. He recorded which book had been defaced, how and the page number.

Once they'd acquired a reasonably sized pile, they would tackle the task of restoring them. Ink blots and small tears would be easy to repair. The problems would arise when they needed to replicate missing pages; they hadn't worked out how they were going to fix those books yet. Those books were returned to the shelf until such time that they'd be able to duplicate the misplaced sheets.

Scorpius fumbled over the parchment recording the list of all library books owned by Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry relating to the subject Ancient Runes. It was awkward to handle since when unravelled, it was longer than his six foot two frame. He hadn't meant to unravel it in the first place and he kept stepping on the part which trailed on the floor.

Scorpius knew he was wrong to assume that his week couldn't get much worse. The fates were seriously out to get him and he wondered what exactly he'd done to deserve such a punishment. He was stuck this close to her for the rest of the year. How the hell was he going to get through this when her mere presence unsettled him in a way which made him loose part of his mind?

He heard her chuckle and he glowered at her. She bristled instantly in response. "Just roll the damn thing up again and then unravel it a bit at a time. Don't you have any common sense?" She snapped.

His instinct was to get defensive and retaliate but he resisted. Scorpius knew he'd provoked that response with the glower he sent her way. He turned his attention back to the parchment but it was no use, he needed an outlet for his frustration.

An aggravated growl escaped his lips as he turned his frustration on the man you'd condemned him to what was going to seem a lifetime of torture. "Can you believe that man? He's nuts, a complete barmcake. How does he expect us to do this without magic?" He complained, knowing that the verbal release was not enough. He needed a physical release. Tossing the parchment on the ground, he stamped on it several times. He knew he was being childish but at least it helped. He was feeling slightly better when he knelt next to the parchment and slowly rolled it up.

The redhead was smirking again and Scorpius knew she was about say something that would have him testing the limits of his poorly contained anger. So much for feeling slightly better, he thought ruefully as she opened her lips to point out. "Stop whining like a little girl Malfoy. We can use _some_ magic."

He remained silent, he just couldn't catch a break, could he?

He felt the colour drain from his face as he battled for control. "But not anything that can help with that." He gritted out stiffly not looking up from the parchment. Better he let her believe his behaviour was caused by the parchment. She didn't need to know that it was actually a result of his close proximity to her. She'd give him that cat got the cream expression and he didn't know whether he could refrain from loosing his temper then. He willed himself to gather the strength to get through the next few hours. He so did not fancy telling his parents or grandparents that he'd been expelled at the beginning of his final year.

He tried to concentrate on the task at hand but he heard movement from Lily's direction. She was definitely up to something. He braced himself for the attack. "Suck it up Malfoy and do it the muggle way!" She jibed cockily knowing that he wouldn't take it well.

He didn't, but not for the reasons she believed. She thought he found carrying out task without magic demeaning. He actually didn't see muggles in the way his grandfather did. That she had used that stereotype to taunt him was what actually irritated him. That she of all people couldn't see past the façade just added to his frustration.

He stiffened and played on the character he'd worked on creating for himself over the years. "This is so demeaning." He muttered. He knew her gaze was on him as he stood up and moved to the table so that he could further examine the parchment. He always knew when she watched him.

"I forgot to say, that book was ok, what's the next one on the list?" She asked returning to the task at hand. Scorpius was pleased with the new direction and read the next title to her. Lily's fingers searched for the book, she tapped the empty slot where the book should have been. "It's not here, has someone checked it out?" she asked in an unpleasant tone.

"How should I know?" he spat retaliating to her tone. The task they'd been given was beyond reason. The atmosphere between them was getting to him. "I wasn't given that information. I can't work under these conditions, it's impossible."

"Then b-bye Malfoy. Bugger off home!" Lily goaded further.

His jaw tightened and he gave a short sarcastic laugh. "You're not going to get rid of me that easily."

Lily met his gaze with an triumphant one of her own. She looked so smug and he swore if she said another word he was going to loose it. He stared at her warning her to keep quiet. She didn't listen to his silent plea. Chin raising so she looked down her nose at him she said: "Then shut the hell up, be a man and move to the next book."

That was it. He reached inside his robes, his hand itching for his wand as he fought the urge to hex her.

"Na-ah-aa!" She chimed cockily shaking a slender finger at him, "I wouldn't get out that wand of yours, Madame Swats may see." She stopped and an impish expression on her face, "In fact…Do it! I _dare _you! Go get yourself expelled."

His nostrils flared at the threat. Was she seriously provoking him so that he'd get expelled? He wouldn't rise to it. His gaze turned acid. It should have had her hissing, fizzing and melting on the spot but she was too stubborn to back down.

"Chicken" She hissed.

He tried to block her out and ignore her taunt as he returned to their detention task. He felt her watch him for a few moments. He slammed his fist against the table. Better it than taking it out on her.

Clumps of dust dislodged and fell from the bookcases around him. The large dust moats floated down to him and he had to shake them off.

Lily laughed from her position on the ladder. "You look absolutely ridiculous." She scoffed and reached for the next book from the list, the ladder swayed unsteadily.

That was the final straw, he lost his fight for control. As her fingers were just about to brush the spine of the book she reached for, Scorpius was below her grabbing her ankle and tugging her sharply. She fell from the ladder and half screamed in surprise.

He had sense enough to catch her at least, but that's where it ended. He slammed her against the bookcase with enough force behind it that the bookcase wavered unsteadily. Several books fell from the shelves.

The sound of the falling books hitting the floor below them should have had the librarian running to the scene but no one came. Scorpius knew why she wasn't there after her threat that she wouldn't stand for any misbehaviour from them. The caretaker Mr Grimes was there stealing all the witch's attention.

He was both pleased and displeased by that. Pleased because she wouldn't catch them so they wouldn't be expelled and displeased because she wouldn't catch them and stop him.

"Ouch, Dammit. What was that for? You nearly fractured my skull." She complained and tried to step out of the way. He knew he'd probably hurt her but he didn't really have the energy to spare on that right now. He was trying to regain control of himself.

He moved forward wedging her between the bookcase and the hardness of his body. With that route blocked she tried to shimmy around him but his fist in her hair had her standing still. She winced again.

She attempted to force him to release her by digging her nails into his arm. He retaliated by tightening his grip in her hair and she winced again.

Good! She needed to know she couldn't provoke him like that and remain unscathed. With a deep breath he willed himself to gather the strength and control he needed to not to hurt her again.

Her arms fell to her sides in defeat. He bowed his head so that his lips were close to her ear. "Pity, next time I'll throw you harder." He warned quietly, coldly.

As his icy breath brushed against her neck she gasped and a shudder ran through her body. She didn't seem to notice it but he did. Their bodies were too close not to. He nudged her chin up so that she met his eyes. Her stubbornness was back flickering in her golden gaze. There was also fear in her eyes as well as strength. She seemed to study him then loose herself in her own thoughts.

Scorpius took the opportunity to study her in return. Her breathing had quickened and become shallower but it didn't seem to be related to her fear. Some other emotions flickered in her gaze which he was sure she wasn't aware of. Admiration; Something he had done had impressed her.

Disgust flickered in them but Scorpius knew that it had nothing to do with him. It was logical that she'd been wondering where the librarian was so that she could rescue her. Since she was with the caretaker, Lily was probably experiencing a visual no one should have to suffer.

She seemed to be trying to focus on him. As she did so, another emotion flickered to the surface that confused him. He did not just see that flicker in her eyes, did he?

The trace of it had disappeared but he was certain it had been there. For a brief moment she had reacted to him in a way he never thought probable and she wasn't even aware that she had done so.

That was interesting.

Maybe something good could actually come out of these detentions in time. A lot of work needed doing and she needed to learn to open her mind. But it would be an interesting challenge to take on.

He was having much more pleasant thoughts towards Lily, their barmy Headmaster and Duanne. She may flirt with his best friend all she wanted but he knew she wasn't as immune to him as she believed.

He stepped back, letting her pass and motioned for her to head towards the table. "You deal with the lists." He said it as an order but really he was aware that she would be a little tender. He no longer felt the strong desire to see her suffer. He wondered how long the feelings would last.

He repositioned the ladder and climbed up.

The librarian and caretaker chose to walk passed them then. Skulking eyes slowly taking in the scene. They'd obviously heard him slamming Lily into the bookcase and had come to investigate. It took them long enough, Scorpius mused and he reckoned Lily was thinking the same. She was gazing towards them bitterly.

One look at the duo told Scorpius exactly what they'd been up to. Now he had a visual he couldn't get out of his head. In an attempt to try he glanced over to Lily. She was glaring accusatively at him. She seemed to think the only reason he'd let her go was because he'd heard them coming. He shrugged. He was not at all eager to disillusion her from that conclusion.

He'd let her go because his body had reacted to that brief emotion she'd worn clearly in her eyes. If he hadn't stepped back he would have given in to the urge to kiss her. Not something he thought she would appreciate in her present state of denial. One day he'd test her though. Once he believed she was ready.

They worked together quietly for an impressive ten minutes. Lily had unconsciously seethed the whole time. Standing on the ladder the wrong way around, he leant backwards to remain balanced as he studied her. She was oblivious to it. "This is all_ your_ fault." He pointed out.

She dropped her quill and brushed a lock of crimson hair back off her face. "What is?" She huffed meeting his gaze.

He waved his hand impatiently between the pair of them. "Us being threatened with expulsion." He responded in a tone that meant that it should have been obvious.

Lily cocked a brow in his direction. "All _my_ fault? How'd you work that out?" She asked heatedly gripping the edge of the table until her knuckles hurt.

He smiled. "It just _is_." He told her matter-of-factly, "That temper of yours always lands us in detention. You need to learn how to keep your cool." He finished in a condescending manner quite aware of how hypocritical he was being. His own temper was beyond control at times. Still, she'd provoked him once, it was only fair that he got a chance.

Lily crossed her arms and legs defensively. "You _provoke_ me."

"Do not" he objected.

Lily gaped at him in disbelief. "You insult my friends. How is that not provocation?" She asked aghast picking up the parchment in an attempt of using it as a prop to aid her self-control.

He was smirking again. He knew it but he couldn't stop it. It was a typical Malfoy habit that was hard to break. "If you had better friends then my comments wouldn't bother you. Some witches and wizards are better than others; you're old enough to know that." His tone was sarcastic enough that she should see through it.

She didn't.

"Oh and I suppose you mean you pure-blooded, inbred, power hungry, prats?" Lily snapped, glaring at him over the top of the parchment. "That way of thinking is very death-eaterish of you. Maybe I should mention it to _my_ Father or my Uncle Ron. They lock death-eaters up in Azkaban! I'm sure you'd make a lovely addition to the collection. I hear a lot of your dad's old friends are in there. I bet they'd love to make you their bitch."

She may have scored another point with that comment but she sure as hell wouldn't like the consequences. He'd make sure of it.

Scorpius leapt off the ladder and launched himself towards her with the speed of a firebolt. She scuttled backwards in her seat in fear and attempted to climb free from it. She knew perfectly well that she'd pushed him too far this time. He could see the realisation in her eyes as he advanced. Her legs got tangled and the chair went skidding across the stone slabs and she fell to the floor in a heap.

He saw her panic.

His hand reached for her.

"What's going on here?" Came the alarmed shrill of Madame Swats. The commotion had her skidding along the aisle as fast as her stubbly legs allowed her. caretaker Grimes wheezed behind her.

Scorpius froze in place. He had no answer ready. He had no idea what he'd intended to do if he'd got his hands on her.

Taking him by surprise, Lily grabbed the hand he still had outstretched towards her. "Nothing Miss, I just tripped that's all. Mr Malfoy here was just about to offer me a hand." She was saying before he even had time to react.

He stared down at her and she smiled up. He stood there frozen for a few seconds as he digested the fact that she was giving him a way out of this. So she should. It was her damn fault they were in this mess. She nodded encouragingly at him her eyes wide and unguarded. Scorpius wondered if she knew that her eyes could be read as easily as a book. By him at least.

He could quite easily loose himself in them where he'd discover things about her she didn't even yet know. Just like that, he was able to reel in his anger and keep it contained. He tightened his grip on her hand and yanked her to her feet.

Lily smoothed down her clothes looking a little disorientated.

They both turned towards the librarian. She didn't look convinced by their performance but they presented her with no concrete proof of any other explanation. She and the caretaker waltzed away muttering incoherently. Scorpius guessed she was reeling over the fact she didn't have enough evidence to have them expelled yet.

Once alone again, Lily turned to him and he gave have her the smallest of nods. Better let her make of that what she will.

She returned to their previous conversation but calmly so not to get a rise out of him. "I'd choose my friends over yours any day."

He appreciated what she was trying to do so he kept his own tone conversational. His next comment wasn't meant as an insult towards her or his friends. He just wanted to goad her into taking chances on others she wouldn't usually consider. "And that's why you'll never amount to anything except being the little girl of _The_ _Harry Potter_" It was a statement of fact. She always did what she thought her parents and the rest of her family wanted her to. She needed to step out of the mould if she was ever going to distinguish her self in her own right. It would be great character building on her part if she took more chances.

Although he had meant it as advice, she didn't take it that way. Not when it came from him. Her eyes burned as her temper flared. She became rigid and her hands balled into fists. He watched the transformation mildly.

So much for their truce. "Now, now! That temper of yours is in danger of being inflamed." He warned, "I may not be as chivalrous as you. _I_ may let Madame Swats catch you. That way I wouldn't have to deal with you anymore."

Her body shook involuntary. "Well, if you curbed that serpent tongue of yours, you wouldn't suffer the burn of my wrath." She retorted.

"Always dramatic." He retorted removing the last book from the top shelf as he resumed the task at hand.

She turned her nose up at him. "Don't you know it."

Sliding back down the ladder, he walked towards her carrying the last book from the shelf than needed restoration work to it. He added it to the top and the pile and took the seat opposite her. He picked up a potion designed to remove inkblots and dapped at the book which lay open on the table. "Speaking of serpent tongues, you've got a good one yourself. I can see why the Sorting Hat would have wanted to put you in Slytherin."

She gaped at him in disbelief and then replaced it with a menacing glare. Sparks shot out of the end of her wand. At least he'd managed to get one point in their battle tonight, he mused while she assessed the damage done by her wand.

He smiled and continued. "You know you really deserve to be knocked down a peg or two. Acting so high and mighty all the time, you're just a little girl of no importance." Maybe pointing that out would spur her on to change.

She didn't seem to like it but at least she took his comments on board. "Oh and you presume to be the one who does it? The same could be said for you. Are your parents proud of having a _daughter_? I'd have expected a pair like _them_ would have wanted and heir to carry on the family name. I'd have expected them to drown you at birth, it's a pity really."

She could say what she liked about him but not his parents. She had no idea what they were like, her word were fuelled by years of prejudice. They sat on opposite sides of the same table glaring each other and clutching their wands. Both daring the other to make the first move with their eyes.

Madame Swats caught on to the edgy atmosphere and coughed loudly. They each glanced towards her distractedly. The librarian moved herself closer to them so that she could observe them for the rest of the evening.

The two students grimaced and went back to work in silence. Scorpius enjoyed the peace and quiet but the silence seemed to get to Lily and make her feel uneasy. "Are you going to ignore me now?" She inquired quietly.

He looked up and studied her for a moment, "I see no need in humouring you any longer. There's little point in engaging in conversation"

Lily nodded "That's fine by me!" She lied. "I can get through this dratted detention by mentally preparing my self for my next Quidditch practice."

"You're going down this year Potter" He told her dryly without looking up from the library book in his hand.

"We'll see" Lily retorted nonchalantly not wanting to get into a heated debate about which house was better.

After that comment silence fell between them once more. They continued their detention until the clock struck nine and head back to theirs common room completely ignoring the existence of the other. Scorpius knew that at least three disgruntled housemates waited for him there, he was so not in the mood. He half wondered whether Goyle or Warrington would be up for a sparing match.

He needed to release a weeks of suppressed anger some how.

**I'd love to hear your thoughts on this story. Thanks for reading.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you for reading and reviewing. **

**Gryffindor team: **Keeper: Albus Potter (7th yr). Chasers: Kenna McLaggen (7th yr), Amelia Wood (7th yr), Michaela Jordan (4th yr). Beaters: Hugo Weasley (5th yr), Chester Thomas (5th yr). Seeker: Lily Potter (5th yr) * Captain.

**Slytherin team: **Keeper: Duanne Zabini (7th yr) * Captain. Chasers: Margarita Zabini (5th yr), Posie Montague (7th yr), Pandora Bletchley (6th yr). Beaters: Kallin Nott (5th yr), Thomas Warrington (7th yr). Seeker: Scorpius Malfoy (7th yr).

**Commentators: **Slytherin: Morticia Avery (7th yr). Gryffindor: Jamie Wood (5th yr).

**Chapter 8: Slytherin versus Gryffindor**

Later that night Scorpius relaxed in the common room with the rest of his group. He was feeling much calmer and under control. This had quite a bit to do with his recent sparing match with Thomas Warrington. Scorpius could always count on Warrington to willingly participate in that particular form of exercise. Their only rule was to avoid their opponents face, other than that anything goes.

Scorpius flexed his aching muscles and Posie slipped into the seat beside him. His first thought was to push her away but when she began massaging his shoulders, he decided she could stay. He smirked at Warrington who was being tended to by Pandora Bletchley. Pandora was a pretty girl the year below them with hair the colour of jet and eyes an unusual dark green. She was also a Chaser on the Slytherin quidditch team.

Their fight had ended with Scorpius feeling victorious. His thoughts were no longer on Lily Potter and how unfortunate it was that he'd fallen in love with the Gryffindor. "Maybe we should have changed the rules Warrington. Your face would probably benefit from the rearrangement." Scorpius joked and Warrington grunted.

"And risk your pretty boy looks Malfoy? I doubt you'd survive the week without them." Warrington quipped back causing Scorpius to laugh.

"And what makes you think you'll manage to get my face? You're so bloody slow, I'd have knocked you to the ground before you get the chance." Scorpius taunted. They heard Goyle snigger from his seat in the corner. When they looked his way he acted as if he hadn't done anything. He continued to scribble away in his jotter, his school work lay forgotten. "You don't think I'd be able to dodge him Goyle?" Scorpius asked.

Terence Goyle looked up from his notebook and gave both men the once over as he assessed their physique. "You'll have the speed Malfoy but Warrington the strength and the determination to crack your jaw." Goyle smirked. "I guess the only way to find out is to try it next time." He declared and both Warrington and Scorpius snorted in response.

"Have you two been fighting again?" Margarita asked as she entered the common room with her brother. The two had been on a late night excursion to get food from the House Elves.

"Would we when we know how much you disapprove?" Scorpius grinned innocently and she shook he head at the pair of them.

Margarita threw a rock cake into his lap. "I don't get why you need to do it, that's all." She sighed and batted Posie out of the way. Posie didn't go quietly but when Scorpius told her to drop it, she grabbed her friend Morticia Avery's arm and dragged her out of the room. Margarita glared after them before taking over kneading the aches from Scorpius' shoulders and back.

Scorpius took a bite out of the cake and watched Duanne drop himself into an empty chair. It wasn't long before Allegra Yaxley and Abigail Vaisley came to fawn all over him. Scorpius rolled his eyes as the girls began to flock around Duanne and he heard Margarita's huff. As Scorpius and his friends chilled out after their detentions, their conversation shifted across topics: quidditch, school work and girls. When the night threatened to become morning, they headed to bed so they felt refreshed come the dawn of the new day.

School work kept them all busy except for Goyle who refused to attempt it. He hadn't wanted to come back to Hogwarts to do his N.E.W.T.s but his mother had insisted. If it wasn't school work, then it was quidditch practice or detentions that took up their time. Scorpius began to look on his detentions with increasing amounts of dread. It wasn't that there had been any more confrontations between him and Lily Potter: she was refusing to talk to him and that was the problem. Their detentions were carried out in silence with her on one side of the library and him on the other. Scorpius was looking forward to when their teams played each other in the school quidditch cup. She'd have to interact with him then, even if it was to hail insults at him. He found he missed even them!

The first match of the season came around quickly. After a pep talk Scorpius only half listened to, Duanne led the Slytherin team onto the Quidditch pitch. He grimaced as he trudged across the waterlogged lawn and assessed today's weather conditions. Luckily, the storms that had plagued Hogwarts during the last week had died down and the temperature was neither too hot nor too cold. Scorpius was glad to see that the conditions were relatively ok for today's match. Looking over at his friend, Scorpius saw that Duanne was also pleased with the current climate and was looking forward to what should be a competitive match.

The Gryffindor team were already standing besides Professor Thorne, the school's flying instructor and Quidditch referee, by the time Scorpius and his team-mates joined them. The team captains Lily and Duanne carried the ceremonial shaking of hands. Scorpius frowned when he caught the look in Duanne's eyes. She didn't seem to notice though. His friend was up to something concerning Lily, and Scorpius didn't like it one bit. He was still frowning when Professor Thorne administered the order to mount their brooms. If Posie hadn't slapped him on the back of head he probably would have still stood there frowning long after the others had risen into the air. A brief assessment of Posie's expression told him she was going to give him hell later. He sighed inwardly, mounted his broom and rose up in the air along with the others. Seconds later Professor Thorne blew his whistle and the game began.

Scorpius immediately began his search for the snitch as he listened to the commentary of the match. "And they're off." Sounded the amplified voice of the Gryffindor commentator Jamie Wood. Scorpius knew his as the younger sister of Amelia Wood. Amelia was a quiet Gryffindor girl in his year and a talented Quidditch player. It was inevitable that she was on the Gryffindor team. Scorpius was glad he played the position of seeker and not keeper. Jamie on the other had was obsessed with quidditch but would rather watch it than play it.

Scorpius heard the crowd cheering all around them. "A great move by McLaggen and Gryffindor win the ball!" Jamie continued as Kenna McLaggen a Gryffindor Chaser in her 7th year caught the quaffel. From the corner of his eye he saw Posie try and win the ball of the Gryffindor chaser, but Kenna McLaggen managed to swerved around her. "Now Amelia Wood has the ball! Great throw to Michaela Jordan and back to Wood…"

"And she's hit in the head by a well aimed bludger by Nott!" Scorpius heard Morticia Avery exclaim with sadistic glee. She was the Slytherin commentator and was in Scorpius' year. She had a cruel sense of humour and Scorpius disliked her immensely. Scorpius shook his head with exasperation as the crowd booed at Kallin Nott.

The crowd believed the act had been intentional but Scorpius knew differently. Kallin loved quidditch above anything else and wished to play it professionally when he eventually graduated in a couple of years. He wasn't one to resort to such dirty tactics. Scorpius found his gaze drifting to the younger Slytherin. He was apologising to Amelia Wood whom had managed to stay on her broom but had dropped the quaffel. Scorpius saw Posie Montague and Michaela Jordan swooped for the ball and he returned to his task of seeking out the snitch. He continued to listen to the commentary.

"Jordan catches the ball!" Jamie Wood cheered as Michaela managed to reach the quaffle before the Posie. "Tough luck Montague. Oh she didn't like that!" he laughed and Scorpius turned his head in time to see Posie give Jamie the finger. "Now Wood: it looks like she's recovered from that hit!" Jamie explained to the crowd and the relief was evident in his tone.

"Gryfindors' have the benefit of thick skulls and very little brains." Avery interrupted rudely. There was uproar from the Gryffindors but a chorus of cheers from the Slytherins.

"-and Wood scores! Great going Sis! You weren't saving that one Zabini. Take that!" Scorpius just about heard Jamie shout above the cheers of the crowd. Scorpius sighed at the knowledge that Gryffindor had scored the first goal of the match. He caught sight of Lily who cheered and high-fived Amelia. He was momentarily dazzled by the sight of her smile. It was ridiculous how much power that simple action had over him. He scolded himself inwardly and began circling the pitch.

After an hour of play the scoreboard read 40-30 to Slytherin. There had been several chances for both teams but they seemed to be equally matched in skill. Scorpius was pleased with the improvement his team had made under Duanne's captainship. Last year they'd come third in the league: it had been so embarrassing.

"Margarita Zabini passes the ball skilfully to Posie Montague, who passes it to Pandora Bletchley…" Avery was yelling as the Slytherin chasers weaved across the pitch.

"Would you believe it, Bletchley is off her broom!" Wood roared with laughter. Scorpius looked down to see Pandora dangling in mid air clinging to her broom. She'd just received a bludger to the shoulder and it had sent her off balance. "You're supposed to duck the bludgers deary. Nice aim Weasley!" he applauded and then continued with the commentary "Jordan to McLaggen…"

As the game continued Scorpius swooped down to help Pandora out since the other Chasers and Beaters had gone on defence mode. Once on her broom again, she thanked him for his help and sped off to rejoin the other chasers in their fight for the quaffle.

"Posie Montague gets the quaffle from MacLaggen, passes to Margarita Zabini who aims for goal." Avery added smugly as the Slytherin's regained possession of the quaffle.

"Great save Potter!" Jamie Wood Celebrated as Albus made a particularly tricky save. "He passes the quaffle to Amelia who…"

"And Thomas was almost hit by a bludger sent by his own team mate. I wonder what happened there." Morticia laughed over Jamie's commentary of who carried the quaffle. Scorpius ignored her comments and followed what Jamie was saying as he continued searching for the snitch. He was feeling annoyed with himself since he didn't spotted it yet. Though he kept catching a gleam of gold from the corner of his eye, it wasn't the snitch, only light being reflected from the puddles below.

"Pandora Bletchley passes to Margarita Zabini, back to Bletchley, now to Montague and to Zabini…Margarita Zabini scores!" Morticia celebrated. Cheers erupted from the

Slytherin stand and Scorpius watched Margarita do her victory loop around the Gryffindor goal posts.

After another ten minutes searching for the snitch, Scorpius heard the whistle blow and caught the stream of insults Jamie Wood directed at Thomas Warrington. Scorpius groaned inwardly and looked towards his friend who was enjoying his first year as a Slytherin beater. He hadn't seen what had happened, but Albus Potter was clutching the side of his head and Professor Thorne didn't look at all happy with Thomas. "Warrington you are supposed to hit the bludger" the referee yelling at him.

"I thought he was a bludger professor. It's all that black hair." Warrington explained. Scorpius felt a little sick when he put two and two together and came to the correct conclusion: Warringotn had whacked Albus in the side of the head with his beater's bat.

His eyes sought Albus and watched him warily as he flew downwards and landed next to Madam Bones. The school healer handed Albus a potion. He seemed to be recovering quickly. Scorpius suddenly heard the commotion coming from the Gryffindor team. He looked down to see Lily grab the beater's bat of Chester Thomas: who was unable to react in time to stop her. She zoomed towards a soaring bludger and hit it directing it at Warrington with a look of bloodlust on her face.

Warrington got hit and his broom went spinning sending him dizzy. Scorpius couldn't rustle up any sympathy for his friend. In Scorpius' opinion he deserved a lot worse. He watched Lily as she passed the bat back to a bemused looking Chester and felt a pang of jealousy at the way he looked at her. Once again, he berated himself for his behaviour and turned to see Albus rejoining the game. Scorpius was glad that he seemed ok.

"Thankfully it looks like Potter is doing to be ok" he heard Wood inform the crowd from the commentators' box.

"Like I said, thick skulls and small brains. Ouch!" Morticia Avery screamed and leapt out of the way as a bludger collided with the commentator's box just above her head.

"Nice aim Thomas!" Wood chortled in response.

Before any of his team-mates noticed his concern, he tore his attention away from the Potters and went to find the elusive snitch. He heard the whistle blow shrilly and Professor Thorne saying: "Mr. Thomas kindly refrain from attacking the commentators in the future."

The game really began to drag and after another hour passed, the score was 80 - 70, this time with Gryffindor in the lead. As Scorpius continued to search for the snitch. He spotted a flash of red in the corner of his eye. Turning to focus on the image he saw Lily descend so sharply that if she didn't correct the angle soon, she would plummet to the ground. His instincts took over. She may damn him to an eternity in hell for his interference, but there was no way he was going to see her hurt or worse.

"Looks like Lily Potter's seen something. Look. Yes. There it is. The snitch!" Wood's voiced boomed over the crowds' roar. Scorpius only vaguely heard the words as he moved into a dive and followed her.

His panic caused an onslaught of adrenaline to be released into his system and it had nothing to do with the fact that she was going to catch the snitch. He was gaining on her. He called out his warning but she didn't hear him so he did the next best thing. He reached for her broomstick in the hopes that his weight would slow her down, therefore giving her more time to pull out of the dive. It seemed to work. The air whistled in his ears so he didn't hear Jamie Wood shout: "You cheating dimwit" followed by the disapproving scream of the headmaster and Jamie's apologies along with the comment "Shouldn't expect any less from a Slytherin and a Malfoy too boot! Slimy git!" Jamie Wood then received a public bollocking from the Headmaster. Scorpius missed all this. However, he didn't miss the look of annoyance Lily had when she glanced over her shoulder and discovered that he was grabbing her broom.

"Get off my broom Malfoy" Lily shouted back at him but she still continuing her dive. He opened his mouth to warn her to slow down. However, a bludger aimed by Hugo smashed into the handle of his broom. He was forced into a spin and had to release his hold on the tail of her racing broom. He grasped the handle with both hands and tried to get his broom back under his control. It was easier said than done. As the broom span, he felt his hold on it loosen and he was suddenly falling through the air.

Scorpius hit his head when he collided with something on the way down and he didn't remember much after that. His next conscious thought was that something was moving beneath him and he wasn't falling anymore. A few seconds later he heard someone gasping for air and realised that the something beneath him was a person. He braced his fists against the sodden grass and lifted his weight from the person below him. His actions were quickly followed by a quick intake of breath. Scorpius forced his eyes open and gazed down at the girl lying beneath him.

Lily Potter lay there with mud splattered all over her face with her eyes closed. Scorpius' expression was one of surprise which quickly changed to fury. His anger was not directed at her but to himself. He'd done what he did to save her from a collision, not to be the cause of one. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask if she was ok, but then her eyes flared open.

She blinked erratically as she took her time to recognise him. That didn't take to long. "Get off me Malfoy" she growled.

It was such typical behaviour from her: thinking the worst of him. He would have rolled his eyes if he wasn't so adept at keeping his emotions off his face. Since he guessed what she was thinking: that he'd knocked her off her broom on purpose, Scorpius decided to act the way she expected of him. His expression grew cocky and his hands moved to capture her wrists. "Or what Potter? What are you going to do about it?" he growled back to match her tone.

She held his gaze in response but he could almost see her thought processes as she tried to determine her next move. She began to wriggle beneath him and he all but groaned. How often had he imagined having her beneath him? Too many times to count, that was for sure. He had to look away from her then and tilted his head to see the crowd above them. He heard the crowds raw and Jamie Wood's cussing. He resisted the urge to laugh at their reaction. Still, it wouldn't do for them to stay on the ground like this. He brought his knees in level with her waist and took most of his weight off her. He loosened the hold on her wrist slightly as he prepared to stand.

He leant backwards and turned back to Lily to see her eyes widen. "Move" she ordered and twisted her body sharply. She managed to surprise him enough to roll him on his back. Her palms pressed against the centre of his chest, but he still had hold of her wrists. He looked up at her and she stared down at him as she straddled his hips. Yet another position that almost made him groan. She tried to wriggle free but his grip tightened preventing her from getting up. He felt reluctant to let her go so easily. Seconds later he heard and felt a bludger pound into the ground just where Lily's head had been and the pair of them were coated in a backwash of muddy water and turf.

He turned his head in surprise: he hadn't seen it coming. In the distance he saw Posie Montague and Thomas Warrington arguing. He didn't doubt that she'd been the one to send the bludger in his direction. She was definitely going to give him hell for his actions today. He wasn't looking forward to it one bit. He looked back at Lily and released his hold on her. He needed to provoke Lily's anger so that Posie didn't decide to go after her as well as him. Posie was best friends with Morticia Avery: with a best friend as sadistic as Morticia, there was no way of knowing what they would do to Lily. "Well Potter, if you wanted to be on top all you had to do was ask." He smirked and saw the outrage flash in her golden eyes. She immediately slammed her fist into his jaw. He felt the burst of pain, felt the crunch and for a split second, his vision became unfocused. She had one hell of an arm on her, he'd give her that: probably a result of growing up with her brothers.

When his sight focused again, he saw Lily holding the golden snitch that had just become dislodged from her sleeve. He groaned knowing that Slytherin had just lost the match. He rubbed his aching jaw with one hand and dreaded the atmosphere in the Slytherin common room later.

"Lily Potter has the snitch. Gryffindor win!" Jamie Wood announced and the crowed erupted in cheers.

Scorpius lay there dazzled by Lily's smile as she savoured her victory. Her legs curled into a crouch. The toe of one boot was positioned between the top of his legs almost brushing against the most sensitive part of his anatomy. Caution flared in his silver-grey eyes as he quickly recovered from the effects of her smile. "Hey watch it" he growled. She shot him a wicked grin and look to say 'as if she would have struck him there.'

She sprang to her feet without any assistance and offered her hand to him. He leant forward into a seated position and took her offered hand without question. It wasn't often that she touched him without her temper motivating her to do so. She jerked forwards and Lily was forced to use both hands as it took all of her strength to haul him to his feet. Once up there, Scorpius wiped the muddy water from hands using the fabric of his robes. When he looked up to thank her, he found her glaring at him. He could almost hear the accusations in her mind. Calling him every foul name under the sun as if by wiping his hands clean, had meant that he thought touching her had made him dirty. If that was what she thought then he wasn't going to correct her. It was probably better that way: though he did wonder how she would react if she knew the truth.

The Gryffindor team landed in a circle around Lily. Scorpius stepped away so they could celebrate and went to join the Slytherin team who landed a few meters away from the Gryffindors. None of them looked happy at the outcome of the match. Posie looked furious at him but he hadn't expected any less from her. Margarita rushed over to him to ask if he was ok while Duanne' glanced at him speculatively.

They heard the Gryffindor's celebrate as Duanne lectured them all on their behaviour. Scorpius soon discovered that the pep talk he'd hardly listened to, had been about keeping the game clean. A difficult feat since it was the opinion of Slytherins' that rules are made to be broken. Duanne laid into Scorpius about grapping Lily's broom instead of going for the snitch himself. Duanne knew that Scorpius' racing broom was a lot faster than Lily's. He could have plucked the snitch from the Gryffindor's grasp if he had wished it. Thankfully Duanne had wisely refrained from saying that in front of the team. Scorpius knew he would have to come up with a satisfactory reason to explain his actions.

Duanne then berated Thomas Warrington for hitting Albus Potter in the head since it was a distraction they didn't need. He also scolded Posie Montague for turning on her own team-mate. She sought out Scorpius' gaze during her lecture which promised retribution. Kallin Nott was spared a lecture since they all knew his attack on Amelia had been an accident.

"Good game Zabini" the heard Lily call over to them. In the heat of their discussion, they hadn't noticed her approach. She beamed and Duanne and held her hand for him to shake. The entire Slytherin team turned to stare at her with varying degrees of suspicion.

"Come to rub it in?" Duanne scowled, his eyes focused on her outstretched hand which he still hadn't shaken.

Scorpius saw Lily shake her head and he scowled when a small chuckle escape her lips. He could she her looking at his friend with feminine appreciation, but he couldn't help but feel she had ulterior motives. Or maybe he saw what he wanted to see since he didn't want to think about the possibility of the two of them being together.

"No not at all," she told Duanne, her voice sincere, "most of the game was played well."

Scorpius noted that her gaze flickered to rest on Thomas Warrington and himself before she returned her attention to Duanne. There was no mistaking that she meant the unsporting tactics used by both of them was not included in 'played well' part. Scorpius found himself disliking the insinuation in her tone, but then again she often made wrong assumptions about him. He should be used to it by now, but it still got to him.

Duanne shrugged apologetically and shook her hand. "Yeah, I tried to talk to them about that" he muttered softly so most of the Slytherin team didn't hear him. Lily seemed to accept that as an apology and Scorpius suddenly found her gaze locked with his. She seemed surprised by his expression, so he quickly schooled it into an expressionless mask and waited for her to look away. He hadn't realised his gaze had been so unguarded as he watched her. He couldn't afford to slip up in front of any of them at the moment.

Scorpius didn't need to be a genius to know Posie's hostile gaze was focused on him. He didn't even bother to check, just like Lily didn't look away when she spoke to Duanne once more. "You need a better seeker." She informed Duanne but he gaze was focused on Scorpius. He wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of a response. His lips twitched slightly but on the whole he was impossible to read.

"Yeah, if only you were sorted into Slytherin" Duanne sighed admiringly. All Scorpius' will power disappeared upon hearing his best friend turn against him. He elbowed Zabini in the gut ignoring the mixture of concern and amusement on Lily's face. "Hey! What the hell mate?" he complained.

Zabini grinned sheepishly and rubbed the abused stop of his torso. "Sorry Scorpius". Scorpius just shook his head at his friend and walked away heading to the changing rooms. He heard the stream of insults pouring out of Posie's mouth as she followed him. It took a great measure of control to not reach for his wand and curse her. He was in no mood for the girl's dramatics.

**I'd love to hear your thoughts on this story. Thanks for reading.**


	9. Chapter 9

_Just a bit of a filler I'm afraid._

**Chapter 9: Birthday Blues**

"Happy Birthday mate." Scorpius looked up to see Duanne slouched in his favourite armchair in the Slytherin common room. Thomas and Terence were also there nearby and chorused Duanne's words.

Scorpius grunted in response. He wasn't particularly thrilled about today. Turning eighteen wasn't anything special in the Wizarding world. He was already classed as an adult and able to do magic outside of Hogwarts. It also didn't help cheer him up that he had detention with Lily Potter later on. She was still trying to ignore him during those times except for when the librarian skulked around and they were forced to try an work together. He didn't expect any trouble there, but he would much rather celebrate his birthday and Halloween in the Great Hall with the rest of his house.

"Cheer up for Merlin's sake." Terence said and handed him a parcel hastily wrapped in dark green paper.

Before Scorpius got hold of his present, Duanne snatched it out of Goyle's hand and glared at him. "I'll be taking that. You'll get all your gifts during the free period before lunch. Since all the us seventh years have it free we're meeting up back in the common room." Duanne explained as Goyle scowled.

Scorpius frowned. . He would have much rather spend his free period as just the four of them but he didn't argue. He also wasn't a fan of opening gifts in front of an audience but luckily he'd already opened the pile of presents that were on the end of his bed. It seemed Duanne had only hijacked those from the other seventh years.

"Posie is organising you a party tonight in the common room and I'm sure she'll be willing to straighten you out. You need to get laid Malfoy." Was Warrington's opinion after seeing Scorpius scowl which only deepened at the comment.

"What would you know of it? Your ugly face has all the lasses running the other way?" Scorpius bit back and Warrington roared with laughter.

Looking around the common room Scorpius noticed one person was missing. "Where's Margarita?" He asked since she usually waited for them before going down to breakfast.

"Don't you even think about screwing around with my sister." Duanne growled and Scorpius imagined his expression was priceless at the insinuation. It certainly had the other two laughing.

"Don't be an arse." Scorpius chided. "You know I consider her as much a sister as you a brother. You're family." The declaration appeased Duanne and had Warrington and Goyle rolling their eyes. "So do you know where she is or not?"

"Pandora mentioned she was running late and told us to head down without her." Duanne shrugged. Scorpius frowned and hoped she was ok but headed to breakfast with the rest of his friends.

Sat in the Great Hall, Scorpius was surrounded by his housemates who were all wishing him a happy birthday and expressing their excitement about tonight's party in the common room. Things had changed so much since he started Hogwarts. There were only a few Slytherins that Scorpius didn't particularly like but he got on well enough with all of them.

Laughter and shrieks caught his attention from the other end of the hall. Lily Potter was having a food fight with her brother and cousin Rose. He allowed himself to appreciate the beauty of her smile for only a moment. Any longer then he was likely to draw attention. As he looked up and down the table, he noticed a few of his housemates watching the Gryffindors, their expressions torn between disdain and amusement. As he watched them, he wondered if the time was right to start relaxing the house rules which had been in place since the war. What had started off as a way to protect Slytherin students from the animosity the other houses felt towards them, had gotten out of hand. It was what made his first year hell and still ostracised siblings and cousins when they were sorted into a house other than Slytherin.

From the corner of his eye he caught sight of a tearful looking Margarita who was lurking by the door. His first instinct was to go and see what he could do for her, but then he noticed Magdalena discreetly making her way to her twin. He paused knowing there was no one better to cheer Margarita up than Magdalena. At the sight of the two sisters who still had to sneak around, Scorpius made up his mind. Enough was enough! He was going to have to act. He turned to Duanne so see what he thought of the idea. As Scorpius expected Duanne was open to the idea since his relationship with Magdalena was affected by the rule. To his surprise Warrington and Goyle were more than happy use their influence on the younger students to encourage the change.

As the four of them mulled over their options of how to go about their mission, some familiar laughter caught their attention. Both him and Duanne looked up after hearing Lily's laughter which sounded a lot closer than before.

Scorpius spotted her immediately. Lily was stood leaning over the Ravenclaw table laughing with her friend there. From there position they caught a glimpse down her top. It was surprising the effect of seeing a little skin had on him. His mouth felt dry and his stomach began to churn almost immediately.

She looked up suddenly and her hazel gaze lingered on Duanne. Scorpius felt the tension begin to build, along with his annoyance when he saw Lily blush and felt Duanne shift in his seat. When the redhead started fussing over her shirt as if to make sure she was covered up, he guessed which part of her anatomy his best friend was staring at. She waved at Duanne and Scorpius had the urge to kick him under the table. He didn't though. At that moment Lily began walking over to the Slytherin table with her friend watching her with confusion etched all over her face. When Jessica Fox caught sight of Duanne, she rolled her eyes as if that explained everything. Scorpius felt his fists clench.

"Looks like we are about to get the opportunity to encourage breaking the barriers between Slytherin and the other Houses." Goyle muttered quietly as Scorpius watched Duanne watch Lily as she meandered around students leaving early for class. Scorpius watched Duanne so intently that he missed Lily reaching the table. However he didn't miss her casually sliding the plates across the table and sitting between him and Duanne on the space she'd just cleared.

She was looking directly at Duanne so she missed him scowling at her. "Hey Duanne" she said flirtatiously and flashed him a dazzling smile.

"Good mourning, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Duanne boldly placing his hand so that it covered her own.

Realising that his scowling was doing them no favours, Scorpius glanced up and down the table acting nonchalant at Lily's presence.

"Oh you know, I just though I'd be adventurous today. I haven't been to this side of the hall before," He heard Lily say as he half listened to their conversation. Duanne replied with "You planning on making this part of your mourning routine?" A few of his housemates appeared less than impressed with her invasion. The looked as if the wanted to make a scene but he stared them down until they returned to their breakfast.

"You never know, with a little encouragement I may come down here more often. My eyes are here Duanne!" He heard Lily chuckle and Duanne tease her by asking. "Was that encouragement enough?"

Scorpius tried to switch off from the conversation after that. He could tolerate her presence but he couldn't cope with the two of them flirting right in front of his eyes. As he continued to stare down any student that looked as if they were going to cause trouble, he heard Lily call him a moron.

He looked at her again and could make out the curves of her figure due to her closeness. Another wave of lust hit him and he began glaring at her for being so beautiful. She looked at him and noticed his annoyance and the looks on the faces of other Slytherins. She shifted uneasily as if regretting coming over. Although he knew it wasn't helping his cause, he couldn't stop scowling at her.

She turned back to Duanne which only annoyed Scorpius more since she was able to dismiss him so easily. He needed her to leave since he couldn't take anymore of her and Duanne's flirting. "Get your butt out of my face!" he snapped in irritation through gritted teeth.

Her gaze returned to his and her eyes flashed gold. "If it offends you so much, leave!" Lily suggested matching the level of annoyance in her voice to that in his.

It was then that he felt his control almost snap. If he stayed there a moment longer he was going to make an arse of himself. Like the Malfoy's needed another on of them to make a complete prat of themselves. "Fine" he huffed as he got to his feet in a flash. His voice was strained and his housemates were all watching him but he couldn't care less. "I was leaving anyway."

He stormed out of the Great Hall feeling several pairs of eyes on him. His barely contained anger caused him to exhibit vibes that thankfully had students hurrying out of his way. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone right now. He was likely to do something he would regret.

He took off up the main staircase two steps at a time, taking care not to be caught out by the vanishing step. Lily and Duanne could flirt all they wanted but he'd be damned if he sat there and watched them. He wasn't a masochist after all. Images began to flash through him mind that contradicted that thought. He imagined the Lily and Duanne together in ways that had him wanting to turn around and curse his best friend into the next century. That way he would have to worry about him and Lily ever becoming an item.

As he continued to seethe, he entered a quieter part of the castle so there was no need to worry that his inattention would cause him to knock into someone. That was until he came across Rose Weasley. She was standing in the middle of the corridor looking off down one of the passageways. Shoving his own torment to one side, Scorpius slipped into the spot next to Rose. "Are you ok?" he asked as he turned to follow her gaze.

At the end of the other passageway stood Harrison Davies talking to his girlfriend Kenna McLaggen. Rose sighed wistfully as she looked away from the couple and up at Scorpius who towered over her. Although she smiled at him, her heartache was written all over her face. Rose was hopelessly in love with the Ravenclaw and the Head boy was too dense to notice. "I'm fine. It's nothing." Rose assured him and ushered him out of fight from anyone deciding to walk the other passage way. "Are you heading to class? I was going to wait for Harrison but he's busy so I guess he can meet us there." Rose sighed and glanced back in the direction of the loved up teenagers.

Scorpius knew not to comment. "Come on then, we best get going." he smiled and hip-checked her. While he was with Rose he found he was able to forget about Duanne and Lily. Although he thought it bizarre that the pair of them were in love with people who were completely unavailable to them. The duo set off down the empty passageways to their first class of the day.

"Am I pretty Scorpius?" Rose asked after a while which surprised him.

Caught off guard, Scorpius sneaked a side glace of her. "Is that a trick question?" He asked although she did look serious. You could never really tell whether a Weasley was being serious or not.

"Don't be an arse." Rose said rolling her eyes at the expression on his face. It was bound to be one of utter disbelief. "I'm not asking you if _you_ find me attractive. I ask in general. Do you think I'm pretty?"

"Of course you're pretty." Scorpius replied honestly without a moments hesitation now that he knew what she was getting at. "You're one of the prettiest girls in Hogwarts and definitely the prettiest in our year." He assured her with a wink. He knew she was really wanting to know whether he thought her more or less attractive than Kenna McLaggen. Of course he disliked the McLaggens in general since Eoin was on of Lily's ex's. The truth was, Rose was the prettiest in the year and the most intelligent. That may be intimidating for some lads though and he wasn't certain whether he should tell her that or not.

She smiled coyly having guessed that he had figured her out and shook her head. As the turned down another passageway, Rose reached out For Scorpius's arm and caused him to stop. "Merlin Scorpius! I almost forgot. Happy Birthday!" She exclaimed and hugged him tightly. She retrieved a package from her bag and handed it to him.

Scorpius felt his cheeks flush and he took the present. "You didn't need to get me anything.

She rolled her eyes at his comment. "It's not much really." Rose shrugged as he unwrapped the gift to find she'd given him a book. "I remember you saying you wished to join the Identification and Confiscation of Dark Objects branch of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I spoke to mum and she suggested this to read before applying for the apprenticeship. Of course now she thinks I want to work there but I have plenty of time to tell her that I'd rather join the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

"Thanks. It's perfect!" Scorpius assured her. He hadn't expected her to spend time finding a gift for him but he was grateful.

"We better get a move on. We've taken the long way around and no doubt Lux will be wondering where you have got to." Rose said after she checked the time. Scorpius slipped the book into his bag and the pair took off towards the Muggle studies classroom.

Lux Yaxley was a blonde haired, brown eyed Slytherin in his year. She was the only Slytherin seventh year other than himself to take Muggle Studies at Newt level. Though by some it was considered a chicken course, it was advisable to have at least an OWL in the subject if you wanted to join the Ministry of Magic after graduation. That was part of the reason he had taken the subject, the other reason was that it really irritated grandfather.

After class all the Slytherin seventh years had a free period since none of them had the inclination to do Divination at NEWT level. Since Scorpius knew he was wanted down in the common room. He and Lux walked down to the dungeons together.

Duanne along with the other Slytherin seventh years were already in the common room when Scorpius and Lux walked through the secret passageway. Someone had taken a trip to the kitchen and brought up a selection of cakes and pasties. Scorpius grabbed a pumpkin pasty and joined Duanne by the fire. He sat with Warrington and Goyle. Posie and her friends sat nearby while Lux went to sit next to Allegra Yaxley. The only seventh year not there was Braxton Nott. Scorpius guessed he was either in the library or the dormitory since social gatherings weren't really his thing.

"Happy birthday" Posie squealed as she finally had an excuse to hug him. Slytherins weren't the most affectionate of people but they did tend to give hugs on birthdays, sporting events and at Christmas. Scorpius tried not to tense at the contact but was relieved when Lux hurried over for a hug, giving him an excuse to end his one with Posie. The blonde winked at him to let him know that she knew he needed to be rescued. She was very perceptive at times and he wished it was the case with Posie. Then again, Posie may then realise about his feeling for Lily Potter and then all hell could break loose.

Scorpius sat back down ad Duanne dropped a pile of parcels into his lap. "You don't have one from either Morticia, Abigail or I, Scorpius. We're arranging a party for you tonight instead." Posie explained. Scorpius thanked her and assured her that a party was more than enough. They seemed pleased with his response.

As he made his way through the stack of gifts he became the proud owner of some quidditch memorabilia, aftershave, a silver and emerald chess set, platinum tipped quills and a wooden chest Terence had created. Goyle was big on inventing things which often took precedence over his schoolwork. The chest came with two keys which had a skin memory. That meant that they remembered the first person to touch the key. It also meant that only that person would be able to use the key to open the chest. Careful no to touch either of the keys, he set the box to one side.

As Scorpius thanked everyone, he could think of a few items that could do with being locking away in the chest. He still had the handkerchief Lily had leant him on the train and the lily she'd transfigured that day at the lake. He'd rather no one find out he still held on to those items.

As the seventh years laughter and joked amongst themselves, the conversation shifted to the party tonight. "I was thinking we should invite Magdalena along?" Scorpius told Duanne and anyone else who happened to be listening.

Duanne's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really?"

Scorpius nodded. "Yeah, she could crash with Margarita since I doubt she would mind. Plus that means we can put our plans into effect without delay."

"That's a good idea." The boys turned around to see Lux and Allegra watching them. Although they didn't know what the plans they talked about were, they did like the idea of Duanne's sister being invited.

"You think so?" Duanne asked in surprise.

Both girls nodded. "We've always thought the rule to keep us Slytherin's separate from other students to be ridiculous and outdated." Lux said.

"It's decided on." Scorpius said triumphantly as he grinned at the girls. their task was going to be a lot easier if there were members in the house who thought the same way they did. It may be that all they were waiting for was for someone to make the move first. "Magdalene is invited."

"Hey Posie!" Duanne called over to the girl who was busy planning the party with Morticia and Abigail. He continued when he was sure he had her full attention. "My sister Madga may be joining us tonight."

Posie frowned at him. "Your Gryffindor sister?"

"That's the one." Duanne beamed back cheerfully then dismissed her without another word. Scorpius didn't turn around to see how she took the news.

"Maybe she should bring Lily Potter for support, better there be two Gryffindors than one." Allegra surprised them by suggesting.

Duanne nodded his approval. "Good idea. Malfoy?" he asked.

Scorpius thought hard about the suggestion. Magdalena would probably prefer having Lily there. And Lily did have a way about her that made others happy to be around her. Plus he could always attack the firewhiskey if she spent her time flirting with Duanne. It was for Magdalena's benefit that he finally agreed. "I suppose, but if all turns to shit I'm holding you responsible." he told Duanne.

"Lighten up, it'll be fine. The two are tough enough to handle trouble and we'll be there to make sure they're ok and everything runs smoothly." Duanne said.

Warrington snorted. "Us being the ones to protect Potter! That a new one." His comment brought about a few smiled and Scorpius finally relented.

Duanne let out what sounded like a war whoop. "Oh Posie!" he bellowed.

"Yes?" she gritted back stiffly.

"She'll be bringing a plus one as well." Duanne took great pleasure in saying.

"I'm not having us being invaded by Gryffindors." complained as she fought to get her own way.

Duanne just smiled back. "Malfoy wants my sister there and that's final. It is his party after all."

Posie gaped at Duanne and turned to Scorpius expectantly. When he confirmed Duanne's words Posie let of a frustrated growl. Scorpius smiled to himself as he watched Posie storm off dragging Morticia and Abigail with her. It was worth inviting Lily and Magdalena if only to see Posie's reaction. He wondered what she'd do when she worked out who the plus one was likely to be.

The afternoon's History of Magic class was an monotonous as ever. It was depressing that he had to do that subject on his birthday. It was made worse since he sat next to Braxton Nott who was the most antisocial loner he'd ever met. If only he'd been more like his younger brother Kallin, the subject would have been bearable. History of Magic was another of those subjects recommended if he wanted to join the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Like Muggle Studies, History of Magic at NEWT level focused on recent laws and legislations relevant to his choice of career.

Sitting next to Nott was more appealing than the alternative. When Posie had found out that he was taking the subject at NEWT level, she had convinced her group of friends that they should take the subject as well. Scorpius doubted he would survive the two years if he had been forced to sit next to either Posie Montague of Morticia Avery. He supposed Allegra and Abigail would have made decent partners for the subject but no doubt Posie would have bullied her way to sit with him.

As it was, he still had to put up with her incessant flirtatious notes being passed to him the entire time. He wondered when she would get it into her thick skull that he wasn't interested and give up. However he wanted her in a good mood for when Magdalena came over tonight so he was a lot friendlier towards her than normal. He was glad when that lesson ended and he made his getaway before Posie could come up and talk to him. Running down to the Great Hall he met up with Margarita on route. She seemed happier than this morning but he could tell she was still upset. He briefly mentioned the plans he and the others had come up with to make it so that she wouldn't have to sneak behind their housemates' backs in order to see her sister, and mentioned that he was going to invite Magdalena to his party tonight. That seemed to cheer her up some.


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the long absence. I am so busy with uni, work and other stories that I have lack inspiration for this one. I also lost all the notes I made for this when my laptop died. I am therefore starting from scratch. This story is unbeta'd. Please pm me if you spot any mistakes I missed. **

**Chapter 10**

Scorpius arrived early for his detention and decided to get straight to work. He had spent some time at the Halloween feast, where Duanne had apparently talked to Lily about going easy on him today. Scorpius didn't appreciate the request. Lily going easy on him tended to mean she ignored him. He couldn't believe he was admitting it, but he'd much rather they were at each other's throats than suffer the silent treatment. Regardless, the girl could drive him to distraction whatever she did; no one should have that sort of power over him. Unfortunately saying that didn't change the fact it was true. He had no idea how he was going to survive the evening with Lily Potter at his party. Duanne had invited Magdalana and the redhead and Duanne's sister had assured him they'd be there. Scorpius' thoughts began to darken as he pictured Duanne and Lily flirting; if they kept it up much longer he'd do something regrettable – like blowing up his best friend.

"What are you stewing over?"

Scorpius looked up from the desk he sat at and into Rose Weasley's quizzical face.

"We mere wizards don't like to discuss our feelings. I just thought you should know that fact. It may be useful one day." Scorpius replied and motioned for Rose to take the vacant seat. True to form she carried an overlarge book which she placed on the table before she sat.

Her gaze was scathing. "That's really stupid you know. Bottling things up like that won't help."

"I'm male; I'm far less evolved life form than you." He quipped and flashed a cheeky grin at her.

Rose harrumphed, taken in by his charm. "You can be a damn fool sometimes, but I wouldn't change you for anything."

"That's good to know." Scorpius replied, still grinning.

Rose's expression turned thoughtful. "Can I ask you something? And will you try and answer it honestly."

Scorpius shifted uncomfortably in his chair; Rose sounded too serious by half. "I will try; you have my word."

"What's going on between you and my cousin?"

"Nothing, we hate each other." Scorpius replied quickly, but there was no weight behind the words.

Rose gave an exasperated sigh and spoke quietly but clearly. "Don't do that Scor. I watched the match, I saw the panic on your face when Lily started that dive; it had nothing to do with Lily spotting the snitch. You weren't cheating when you grabbed her broom; you were trying to slow her down so she wouldn't crash."

Scorpius regarded Rose with an element of surprise. Her cousin was so quick to judge him but sweet, logical Rose saw past his actions to the reason behind them. "You see too much, has anyone ever told you that? I'm glad there aren't more people like you in this school." He admitted.

She didn't smile at the compliment. Instead her eyes turned sad. "I didn't want to be right. You fancy her don't you? Not that I'm surprised. Every guy here does and she can be so nice at times that you can't stay mad at her for long. She'll hurt you, you know? Half the time Lily doesn't know what she wants."

"I know these feeling are foolish but I can't shut them off. I've tried doing that and it doesn't work. Besides I wouldn't be much of a Malfoy if I didn't act foolishly every now and then." Scorpius finished, adding a little humour to the situation.

"Stop being such a dork." Rose teased.

Scorpius was about to respond but he sensed someone standing nearby. When a familiar perfume drifted his way, he didn't need to look up to see that Lily was there watching them. Knowing Lily, she wouldn't be too pleased that he and Rose looked so cosy hidden away in a secluded spot of the library. "Lily is here." Scorpius warned quietly and panic flashed in Rose's eyes. "Pretend I've said something shocking. I don't know; pretend I called you a mudblood."

Rose stopped her eyes from rolling and glared at Scorpius. She couldn't have Lily find out they were friends like this, her cousin would feel betrayed. She raised her hand to slap Scorpius but realised she couldn't do it even if she wanted to. So she let t fall to her lap.

"Hey Rose, what are you doing here?" Lily asked sharply.

Scorpius felt the façade begin. His eyes narrowed as he turned to glare at Lily.

"Oh Lily, is that you?" Rose asked shakily as she observed Lily's guarded stance. Scorpius was impressed to see Rose pale on command. It was not something people could normally fake.

Lily shrugged and folded her arms across her chest, clearly not impressed by Rose's theatrics. Scorpius thought she was doing rather well himself.

"Yes I was me the last time I checked," was Lily's biting remark. Scorpius saw the anger dancing in the redhead's eyes and was loathed to realise that he suddenly found it a turn on. What in Merlin's name was wrong with him?

Rose shot to her feet looking flustered and she knocked the chair over in the process. She cringed and hastily picked up the chair and slid it into place. "I was just asking Scorpius about the potions assignment," Rose explained brushing her mahogany curls off her pale face. At Lily's sceptical gazed Rose started patting her robes with open palms. "Well anyways, I have a note for you."

"You do?" Lily asked a little surprise. She stepped forwards as Rose moved around the table towards Lily. Scorpius was surprised as well as he listened. Who the hell was using Rose to pass notes to Lily?

Rose smiled sheepishly and rummaged through her robes. After trying several pockets and finding those lacking what she searched for, she finally produced a neatly folded piece of parchment from her inner pocket. She smiled triumphantly and handed it to Lily. "It's from Maggie." she told her and Lily snatched the tiny piece of parchment and muttered her thanks.

Realisation dawned in Scorpius' eyes as he guessed the note had something to do with tonight. It was probably Maggie asking Lily to meet up before they headed to the Slytherin common room.

Lily looked a little confused and Scorpius noted that she was adorable; sexy as hell when she was angry, but too cute for words when she was confused. He needed help- Medical help! Scorpius continued to watch her covertly as the range of emotions flashed across her face. She really was an interesting creature, so quickly was one emotion replaced by another.

Lily glanced up and surprise shone in her expression when she realised Rose was still there. "Can you tell her ok?" She asked since she wouldn't be able to get the message to Maggie herself.

Rose sighed considering Lily's request as if it was more than a simple yes or no answer, "I'll send the message back with Al. He'll be going back to the tower before me. I need to stay and study tonight." Rose explained before she made her way back to her study group without looking a Scorpius.

Lily did look his way though. Her crimson brows rose toward her hairline and he shrugged innocently not sure what else he should do. She looked as if she wanted to question him on Rose's presence earlier, but thought better of it; much to his relief.

"Right, well, let's get to work." Lily announced and took Rose's vacant seat.

"What no snide comments?" Malfoy asked surprised and handed a book to Lily that needed ink blots removed from its pages. He almost winced at the question. It hadn't meant to be voiced.

Lily did something then that shocked the hell out of him and completely disarmed him. She sent him the sweetest smile he'd ever seen grace her face when she gazed upon him. He knew it was to mess with his head and boy did it!

"I just want to get this over with quickly" she told him and flashed him another dazzling smile.

Scorpius blinked, completely dazzled by her smile. If she continued doing that he was going to completely lose control. Didn't she know how much almost every guy in school wanted to snog her senseless when she smiled as them like that. It was the most powerful weapon she owned.

She looked down at the book she decided to work on and smirked, Scorpius continued to watch her dabbing the rectifying potion on the defaced pages. He couldn't move and he didn't know how much time passed before he managed to pick up his wand and began recreating torn out pages. She may want to get the detention over quickly, and so did he, before he made a complete ass out of himself. He was a bloody Slytherin not some poncy Hufflepuff; he needed to get a grip.

"So you can party all night?" Lily asked impassively. She set the newly restored book to one side and turned to look at him.

Scorpius stared at her, his face unguarded for once. He saw her back stiffen as she tried to gage his expression. It was one she'd never seen him wear before and it confused her. She expected something to happen but wasn't exactly sure what.

"Something like that." He admitted, unable to prevent the smile spreading across his face; a genuine smile and not one of his infamous smirks.

It was Lily's turn to be thrown off balance as she noticed how angelic he could appear. Scorpius knew exactly what he was doing now. She had smiled to disarm him so the least he could do was return the favour. He didn't smile often because he knew the effect it had on people. Set in his face, it had the power to turn girls into mush; metaphorically speaking. It was a smile that he had inherited from his mother; the smile that had assisted in healing his father after the war. His eyes gleamed with a blue tint and not the icy blue of an ocean storm but the blue of a summer's sky that warmed you. It was too alien on the face of a Malfoy and was just as powerful to disarm as Lily's smile. However Scorpius liked the people around him to have their wits about them. He tore his gaze away from Lily as soon as he realised it had the desired effect.

Lily bristled as her defences shot up around her. It was clear that he messed with her head a little as well. However he didn't realise the extent his smile had disturbed her until she shot to her feet. He smirked, he couldn't resist. Never before had he seen Lily in such a state. Not even when she was with Duanne. Surely that gave him hope that one day he feelings may warm to him. Besides, didn't they say there was a fine line between love and hate?

She was furious again. "The time is not going to go any faster you know. Nine o'clock comes when nine o'clock comes." She snapped her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Whatever." Scorpius replied nonchalant. He scooted he chair away from hers, knowing she was too worked up to sit so close to him. However he didn't want her to find somewhere else to sit. He liked her nearby. Lily stared at him for several moments and then returned to her seat.

They managed to work together for an hour straight before Lily got bored and let her mind wonder. Scorpius watched her and wondered what was running though her mind. With such an interesting display of emotions, there was no wonder women like to ask men what they were thinking. It was frustrating, the not knowing. She began to reach for something in her robes and pulled out a box of sweets. Scorpius recognised the Weasley Wizard Wheezes brand but not the product. She placed the box on the table and flipped open the lid. Inside was an assortment of chocolates and sweets. "Want a chocolate?" she asked sliding the box across the table towards Scorpius.

"Excuse me?" Scorpius asked. He gawked at her as if she'd just spoken a dead language; never before had she offered such a thing- surely they were poisoned.

Lily picked up the box and shook it in the air inches away from his stunned face. "Do-You-Want-A-Chocolate?" she said again taking the effort to emphasise every word.

"Why?" he asked aghast.

Lily shrugged as if the reason meant nothing to her. "Well it is your birthday." she stated condescendingly.

"I know that but…" his gaze slipped to the box and he eyed them cautiously.

Lily laughed at his expression. "I promise you it's not poisoned. Although they are some new prototypes from my Uncle's shop and since they are not for general sale yet, some of them may be a bit unpredictable, especially if they are Freddie's design" Lily explained as to wriggle free of any blame if something was to go awry. "Now, do you want one?" she shoved the box forwards and he leant backwards to avoid it colliding with his nose.

"I suppose," He peered into the box and gingerly picked a ruby coloured boiled sweet and examined it, "What do these do?"

Lily's brow furrowed as she examined the sweet in his fingers. "Er, let me check." She took back the box and routed through it. Tucked to one side was an itinerary list. She glanced back and the sweet and then to the list, "It's a Fantasy Blast." Lily read, "It's like the Patented Daydream Charms only different. It's also shorter; it lasts for only five minutes. That way you have less chance of being caught in class and you apparently you have full control of it and actually feel everything. It's like you're really living through it." Lily finished, impressed.

Scorpius was surprised by what the sweet could do. If it was true then it was truly amazing. He knew exactly what he would used the sweet for, although five minutes wouldn't cut it. He could see him buying out the stock of such a sweet. He glanced at Lily and thanked the mighty Salazar Slytherin that he wasn't blushing. There was no way he would survive the night if Lily suspected what he'd fantasise about and who would play the star role. "You can't expect me to believe that." he scoffed. Lily rolled her eyes. To prove that Lily wasn't lying she picked out a similar sweet and sucked on it. For five minutes Lily's eyes went blank as she succumbed to a dreamlike state. An amused smile formed on her lips as she threw herself completely into the fantasy. "What did you see?" Scorpius asked curiously when Lily came around.

Lily stretched her limbs before answering. "You" she grinned.

"You have fantasies about me?" Scorpius asked in a daze and then realised what an idiotic question that was. Of course she did – but not the good sort.

Lily plucked another sweet out of the box and slipped it into her mouth without checking what it did. "You can wipe that smirk off your face, it ended with you hurt." She informed him tartly and chewed on the blueberry flavoured gum. Scorpius watched as Lily started turning blue. He sniggered and slapped his hand to his mouth to try and stifle the sound. It was surprised at how easy being near Lily was when they weren't trying to get one over on the other. "You find that funny?" Lily asked in an annoyed tone.

"No," Scorpius assured her and moved his hand away from his face, "You're turning blue, no wait," his eyes widened with shock, "Potter where'd you go?" He asked suddenly concerned when Lily disappeared from sight.

"I'm still here, why? You gone blind boy?" Lily snapped.

Scorpius could hear her voice but couldn't see her; at least that knowledge dissolved some of the panic. He didn't want to be blamed for Lily's disappearance and hoped it was only temporary. He snatched the box of sweets from the table. "What the hell are these?" he growled and read through the list provided, "Chameleon Cluster? Oh right that explains it." he stated rolling his cold grey eyes.

"What?" Lily snapped.

"You're camouflaged. You have disappeared into the background." He looked impressed and amused at the same time.

"Really?" she inquired after a moment's silence.

His head snapped in the direction of her voice and he heard a muffled chuckle. Remembering she could see him even if he could see her, Scorpius refrained from rolling his eyes. "Let's hope you stay that way. Then maybe we'll get some work done." he teased. He wondered what she'd make of that.

"Do I distract you Malfoy?" she asked unable to keep the smile out of her voice.

He picked up on it. "Don't flatter yourself. I don't get distracted by children." he teased and crossed his arms in front of him.

"Children don't have boobs like mine." She snapped, not impressed with his teasing, if she even noticed that was what he was doing.

Scorpius wondered what he'd said wrong now. "I've never noticed." He lied.

Lily suddenly started to reappear and she didn't look happy. She wrapped her arms over her breasts and glowered at him. "Good, you weren't meant to." she responded, her voice as cold as ice.

Against his better judgement, Scorpius chuckled at her expression, he just couldn't stop himself. "Really? Then why'd you look so annoyed?"

"I'm not annoyed because of you," she retorted and then his comment sunk in. "Hey, wait, you can see me?" She accused as disappointment flushed over her.

"I'm afraid so." He gazed at her through critical eyes as he examined the length of her. His intention being to make sure that the sweet had worn off and she was completely visible. It only seemed to make her angry.

"Damn, that didn't last nearly long enough. I better ask Uncle George to make them stronger." She said out loud to herself as an attempt to distract herself from her rage. She scribbled a quick note to herself on a spare piece of parchment as a reminder.

"Why? Are you planning on doing some sneaking?" Scorpius asked curiously. The last thing he needed was for her to go sneaking off with Duanne.

"Why would make you think that?" she said and grit her teeth.

"You Potter's are always sneaking."

Lily reached into her robes and gabbed for her wand instinctively as the rage bubbled inside her. Scorpius didn't know what spell she had hit him with but he was suddenly a lot smaller and had the craving for carrots.

Lily looked appalled at the rabbit sat in place of Scorpius. All Scorpius could do was watch her feeling rather disorientated. "CRAP!" Lily cursed and picked him up. He wasn't sure what she had done to him or what she intended to do with him now. He yelled a stream of curses but heard only a squealing noise. Alarmed, he bucked his legs and tried to wriggle free from her grasp. She held him close to her chest and began stroking him. The action was calming and her perfume intoxicating since his new nose was more sensitive than his last. He found himself relaxing in her arms. "I'm so sorry Malfoy I swear I didn't mean to do that." she crooned soothingly as he gave into the urge to nibble her collar. It smelt a lot better than it tasted. He wrinkled his nose wondering what Lily had done to him. "Please don't kill me when I fix this." Lily begged. Ergh, Croston is going to fry my ass." she groaned as she hurried around the library looking for someone. Scorpius twisted in Lily's arms and recognised Rose. He tried to call out to her but the squeaking continued. Just what the hell had Lily turned him in to?

Rose! Rose I need your help." she whispered urgently.

Rose looked up from her notes "What is it?" she asked and then her eyes zoomed in on the rabbit "Why have you got a rabbit?" Lily didn't have to answer, Rose took one look at Lily's hysterical expression and it all seemed to click in place. "Lily is that Scorpius?" she asked uncertainly as if she hoped her assumptions were incorrect. Damn, the girl was smart!

A rabbit! Lily had turned him into a rabbit! Oh this better be temporary he thought as he tried to wriggle free and go to Rose. Rose would fix him. Lily groaned and held on to him more firmly. "Yes it's Malfoy. I swear it was an accident. You need to fix this, please tell me you can fix this." Lily cried beseechingly.

Rose suddenly grinned mischievously, the Weasley genes making an appearance. "I can, but I'm not hanging around once he's rectified." she informed her.

Lily looked mortified, "Oh come on! Where's the family support?" she complained but Rose only laughed.

"You turned him into a rabbit Lils." Rose stated matter-of-factly with a look on her face that clearly stated that she needed to face the consequences of her actions. That was the Granger genes becoming more dominant again.

Scorpius saw Lily wince. Good! She should be nervous. She wasn't going to get away with this! Lily glanced down at him and he glowered back. Unfortunately the emotion could not be portrayed in his present form. "You have to admit he does make a cute bunny," Lily stated "I don't suppose…" Scorpius' eyes flared. She was actually considering letting him remain in this state. She's soon change her mind once he bit holes in all her clothes!

Lily decided that it wasn't in her best interest to leave him as he was. She lowered him to the floor and cast a freezing charm on him so he couldn't escape. Scorpius didn't like not being able to move. "Just fix him." She told her cousin before she could change her mind.

Rose packed up her things to aid in a quick getaway and brought out her wand. With a complex flick and an incantation the rabbit's body started to stretch as the freezing charm wore off. Rose made a run for it. Scorpius felt himself growing and reshaping into his normal body. Lily couldn't look him in the eye, he was pure menace. "I'm sorry, I'm-" Scorpius shook his head not wanting an explanation. He was too furious. There was no bloody way that he was going to accept an apology. Lily seemed to accept it and braced herself for what was to come "Ok do your worst, get it over and done with."

Scorpius knew exactly what to do. She turned him into an animal so he would do the same. He watched as she transformed into a small ginger cat. He watched as she arched her back and flexed her claws and then grabbed her. She tried to scratch him. He winced but carried her to the spot where they'd been working and then lowered her to the floor. She curled up on the floor. Although she did look cute as a cat and he stroked her fur until she purred, his anger didn't wane. He was still furious and soon realised that retaliating this way was doing nothing to sooth it. Since it was pointless to keep her as a cat he decided to turn her back. He pointed his wand at her and she began to change back to her human form.

She scrambled to her feet as her mind made quick work on catching up on what had just happened. He had just transfigured her into a cat and back again. "Malfoy I..." she tried to apologise but he was too furious to listen to her.

"Save it." he snapped turning away from her. "Just get to work and maybe we'll be done before the end of this year. I don't want to have to carry on with detentions when I'm taking my NEWTs" He returned to the workbench hoping the remainder of their detention continued in silence. He didn't want her to do or say anything that would inflame his temper more. He was determined to enjoy himself later – he was determined to get very, very drunk.

Lily went back to the bench and picked out another chocolate before popping it in her mouth. Scorpius didn't know what the hell happened. But Lily disappeared and a strong breeze whizzed around him. Scorpius tried to see where Lily had done but it was impossible. "What the hell was that? What's wrong with you?" Malfoy asked confused. Suddenly Lily wasn't sat in the chair she'd occupied five minutes ago, but collapsed to her knees a couple of meters away clutching her stomach.

She groaned. "A Tornado Twister and motion sickness." Lily replied to both questions simultaneously in one breath. She clutched her tender stomach and took deep breaths of air to help the nausea pass.

Horrified to see her in such a state, Scorpius conjured a glass jar from thin air and cast the water spell to fill it. He quickly handed it to Lily who gulped it down. He knelt besides her not bothering to hide is concern as he brushed the damp strands of her hair away from her face. She was too out of it to know it. She wrapped her arms around her calves and let her head drop so it rested between her knees and waited for the side effects to lessen. "What did it do?" Scorpius asked urgently. If he knew then maybe he could find a way to help her. His heart was pumping on overdrive. She didn't answer, but Scorpius saw that her breathing was returning to normal and she was beginning to function again. Knowing Lily wouldn't like him being so close to her, he sat back at the table; watching her covertly until he was sure she'd be alright.

Lily looked at him briefly for answers. "You just disappeared like with the Chameleon Candy but then the wind came and it was like that for the last five minutes" he explained as he watched her.

She smiled faintly into her knees. "That was me. The chocolate seemed to stop time, well slow it down anyway. Nothing seemed to use up much effort so I finished this section and moved on to the bibliographies and the likes, I was going to start on the 'C' section but it started to wear off and then I started to feel like crap. I don't think I could do that on a regular basis."

"You look green, and I think that may have counted as cheating." Malfoy stated as Lily crawled to her feet using the table as support. He didn't want her to try that again either. "I don't think I'll try that one until your uncle has perfected it."

Lily wrinkled up her nose and looked a little annoyed as she moved into the chair next to Scorpius. Scorpius assumed that her dark thoughts were directed at her uncle for using her as a test subject. She had no inclination to do any more work but Scorpius didn't complain about that. She'd done more than her fare share so he left her in peace as he continued to work.

As their detention was about to end, he saw Lily pick up the jar he had conjured and filled with water. She dried it and emptied half a selection of the Weasley Wizard Wheezes into it. To his surprise she shoved the glass on the table in front of him saying. "Here Malfoy, An eighteenth birthday gift from me." Scorpius thanked her for the gift and made a note not to go near the Tornado Twister. The silence was a little awkward between them so, he left for his common room as soon as the clock struck nine.

As soon as the common room door opened his ears were blasted by the music. Not the sort of music he preferred to listen to but it was a popular choice among the other Slytherin students. Duanne was the first to greet him as everyone rushed to wish him happy birthday.

"Looks like the party started without me!" Scorpius pointed out.

Duanne shrugged and passed him a tumbler of firewhiskey "Have your first legal drink mate, you'll need it." Duanne laughed as he pushed Scorpius into Posie's path. Posie all but jumped on him. Scorpius managed to down his drink in one, before his lips were viciously attacked by hers.

**I'm sorry this took so long to update. I'm not entirely happy with this chapter but you have waited long enough.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"You get your cute butt here right now and save me!" Scorpius mouthed at Lux Yaxley.

Although she usually came to his aid, she was too amused to help. She laughed, shook her head indicating he was on his own and dragged her cousin Allegra into the crowd. Scorpius scowled after them.

"You know what Malfoy – hic – You and I, we – hic – need to ditch this – hic – joint and go upstairs. What do you – hic – think?" Posie slurred as her hands pawed all over him.

Scorpius grimaced. "What I think, is that you have had too much to drink and what sort of gentleman would I be if I took advantage of you like that." Scorpius said as he struggled to keep Posie's hands on the outside of his clothes. Thomas and Warrington saw him struggle and thought it the most hilarious thing in the world. It did not occur to them that he might need their help. Some best friends they were!

"Take advantage – hic – that sounds nice – hic – you never take advantage." She complained with a pout.

"I wonder why?" Scorpius muttered as he tried to keep her slippery fingers away from him.

"What was that?" She asked and stepped away from him. She glared as she swayed unsteadily. Over her shoulder, he saw the entrance to the common room open. The Zabini sisters entered looking beautiful. Margarita wore an emerald green dress while Magdalana wore a blood red halter neck dress. Emanating their house colours, both were skintight which showed off their perfect figures. As they stepped into the room, the third girl became visible. Lily Potter was breathtaking in her Mediterranean blue tulip dress. Scorpius could not take his eyes off her.

Scorpius was not the only Slytherin who stared. At first, he had been amused, wondering how the Slytherin would react to Lily being there- how Posie would react. However, Posie was too drunk and unpredictable right then. He did not want her anywhere near the redhead. Knowing that Posie would make a scene at the appearance of Lily Potter, he grudgingly put his arm around Posie and made sure her arms were pinned to her sides. "I said let's get you some more wine!" he lied and led her to the other end of the common room; all the while he cursed the fact that Posie Montague had developed a crush on him and would not take no for an answer; because he had said no multiple times that evening. His current actions would do nothing to deter her from continuing to pursue him. He knew that, but keeping Lily Potter safe from her would be worth it – he hoped.

He dreaded to think what Posie and Morticia would do to Lily if they ever found out about his crush; Hell, he dreaded go think how his grandfather would react if he ever found out. He loved his grandfather but he could be cold and irrational when it came to protecting his ideals. Lily Potter was not someone Lucius would easily accept as part of Scorpius' life. His mind paused- was he seriously thinking of having Lily as part of his life? How stupid was he? Lily would never want that. Scorpius raked a hand through his hair and shrugged that thought to the back of his mind. He would dwell on those thoughts later. He had enough problems to contend with, such as getting rid of Posie

Posie was rattling off some nonsense as he pretended to listen; he hoped she would be too drunk to remember anything tomorrow. All he wanted to do was find someone who would take the burden off him. It grated against him to be stuck looking after Posie since it was his birthday bash after all; but then things did not often turn out his way. With her glued to his side, his gaze searched for someone to pawn off the responsibility to, so that he could start enjoying himself.

Through the crowd, he saw Duanne talking to Lily with the twins not far behind. Lily glanced around the room as if unsure whether to stay or not. Scorpius did not want her to leave and needed to do something to make her stay. As luck would have it, he passed Pandora Bletchley from the Slytherin Quidditch team. He hooked an arm around her and startled by the action, she walked with him. Posie was oblivious to the new addition to the group as she snuggled against him. He tried to ignore her to prevent the nightmares that would follow tonight if he truly allowed himself to think about what she was doing.

"What do you want?" Pandora asked as she tried to ignore that Posie was trying to get inhumanly close to her teammate. The sight was disgusting.

"I need a favour." Scorpius began and she appeared both intrigued and disturbed by being asked a favour by the Malfoy heir. "I need you to take Posie away. She's too drunk and has it in her head to jump me when we're alone. Can you take her back to the dorms and I don't know… lock her up there. I'll buy you new broom!" he pleaded, his tone desperate.

Pandora winced at the request, tempted because she needed a new broom. With another glance at Posie, she shook her head. "No broom is worth that." She tried to pull away but Scorpius grabbed her arm. He was desperate after all. There was no way he was going to try to leave the safety of the group with Posie; but he didn't want her anywhere near Lily either.

"Then I will do whatever you ask of me." Scorpius vowed and did not take back his words even when the evil gleam shone in her eyes.

Pandora's eyebrows shot upwards as she considered his proposal; her mind buzzing with the possibilities. She glanced at him. He looked nervous, good; he should look nervous for getting himself in such a situation where he was at the mercy of another Slytherin. He should know better. Luckily, she liked and respected him more than most of the members in her house; so she would not be too harsh in her demands. She thought for a moment and glanced around the room. She spotted something that had her smiling. "I'd accept a new broom but there is something else you can do for me aswell."

"What?" Scorpius asked both hesitantly and hopefully, ready to grasp at anything if it meant getting rid of Posie.

"Do you see Tony Wyatt over there?" She asked. Scorpius turned his head in search of the sixth year Slytherin. He spotted him standing not far from where Duanne stood talking to Lily. He nodded. "Well we broke up last week since he seems to be of the opinion that I couldn't get better than him – the arrogant sod. Pity I love the fool. Well I want him back but I need to show him that I could in fact do better if I wanted to. I could find someone else to help me prove him wrong but that would involve effort and a nasty break up and I cannot be bothered with that. Since you are offering to do me a favour, then you can help." She declared and smiled mischievously.

"Just what are you asking me to do?" Scorpius asked, not following what Pandora was getting at. The female mind was a confusing thing.

"I want us to walk over there and I want you to kiss me. It will not mean anything and I don't care if you need to kiss her to keep her happy and from wringing my neck." Pandora added and jerked her head in Posie's direction. "Besides, it will imply to Tony that I'm not as boring as he seems to think I am. It will also ensure that she is in a more compliant condition when I take her off your hands. In fact, I think I will make it an essential part to my conditions."

Scorpius winced. "How does that make sense?" Scorpius ask, his head hurting form trying to work out why Pandora would want him to do such a thing. He also did not like the idea of kissing Posie, although kissing Pandora was not on his list of top ten things to do while at Hogwarts. However, she was willing to help him with his immediate problem and surely, that was all that mattered.

"It doesn't need to make sense to you. All you need to know is that it is the price to pay if you want Posie off your hands and other parts of your anatomy."

Scorpius blanched and made a mental note never to make a deal with a Slytherin ever again. He should have known better. He had said he would do anything to get rid of Posie; even if it meant him losing what little ground he'd gained with Lily, because there was no way he could do this so that Tony saw, but Lily didn't. However, kissing Posie, no matter how repulsive, would most likely distract her from wanting to lay into Lily. Besides, Lily was looking rather cosy with Duanne and he did not want people to know how much he disliked that. "Fine." Scorpius agreed before his head hurt some more.

"Where's my wine?" Posie demanded as she suddenly realised she did not have Scorpius' attention.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "We are going to get you some but first I need to speak to Duanne." Scorpius told her and shook his head. Was he really going to kiss both Pandora and Posie in front of Lily? What weird situation had he found himself in?

The trio headed straight for Duanne and Lily. Lily was looking anxiously into the faces of other Slytherins. Duanne was telling her about the truce everyone had agreed to but Lily was sceptical. "They don't look like they have. Maybe I should go" Lily suggested uncertainly.

Knowing that provoking her anger was a good way to provoke her stubbornness and courage, Scorpius called out to her. "Don't be a coward and have a drink. I thought you Gryffindor's were supposed to be brave?"

She span around and glared at him with full fury blazing in her eyes. He did not flinch. Instead, he wrapped an arm around both Posie and Pandora who stood at either side of him, glanced over at Tony Wyatt to confirm he was looking, kissed each girl full on the mouth in turn and walked away from them again. Leading the girls away from the group, Scorpius had to pry Posie off him since she did not realise the only reason he had kissed her was because she would have attacked Pandora or Lily if he had not. He felt so dirty for what he had just done; but a deal was a deal. At least Lily's presence had not been processed by Posie's intoxicated mind.

Pandora looked back and was happy to see her man sulk in the distance. With a smug smile, she took out her wand, discreetly cast a spell to make Posie pass out and levitated her out of the room without another word to Scorpius. Scorpius blinked after her wondering why he had not thought about doing that himself. It would have saved him a lot of trouble.

"What was that about?"

Scorpius turned to see Margarita and Magdalana looking at him in surprise. "You do not want to know." Was all he said before he decided he needed a drink to forget about Posie's wondering hands. He shuddered to think where they had been. The twins wished him happy birthday and decided they would get a drink with him. Scorpius felt a lot more comfortable walking towards the drinks table with a Zabini twin on each arm. He was surprised to see Lily and Duanne at the drinks table. Duanne was offering her a firewhiskey and she eyed it sceptically.

"Come on Potter, it's not a tough decision, unless you're chicken." Scorpius laughed. Lily stared at Magdalana wondering why she was with Scorpius. Maggie shrugged and mouthed something that had Lily looking at Duanne quizzically. Scorpius had no idea what Magdalana had said but Duanne did not seem bothered and that seemed to surprise Lily.

Lily suddenly turned her venomous gaze on Scorpius. "I hate you," she spat ungraciously which had Scorpius blinking in confusion. Lily took the drink Duanne held and took a sip. "Christ, it tastes of paint stripper" she complained and coughed. They laughed at her reaction but did not know what she meant by paint stripper. Magdalana was unable to explain either. In reaction to their laughter, Lily swirled the golden liquid in the glass and to everyone's surprise, she raised it up to her lips again and drained it dry. She did not cough that time.

Scorpius had to admit, he was impressed. Even he was not able to drink the stuff without wincing. Even the watered down version of the drink they had available.

"Want another?" Duanne asked and held the bottle of firewhiskey in front of Lily. Scorpius rolled his eyes, really hoping that Duanne was not trying to get Lily drunk. She was unpredictable enough when she was sober.

Lily shrugged, "Might as well," and she held her glass out for him to fill it. They stood talking until Lux attracted Scorpius' attention and he left Duanne, his sisters and Lily at the drinks table.

Later into the evening, the music was turned up; several people got up to dance. Scorpius was happy to sit and watch everyone make fools of themselves as he talked to his friends. Occasionally his eyes drifted towards Lily and Duanne and he had to look elsewhere before the jealousy overwhelmed him. When the Twisted Toadstool's latest song played, Magdalana grabbed hold of Lily shouting, "I love this song Lils, we have to dance." and dragged her to the dance floor; Lily did not appear to object.

As the girls began to dance, they attracted attention of several Slytherin students who had never seen people dance the way Lily and Magdalana were. Scorpius had to admit, it was difficult not to stare as Lily twisted and turned to the music. It was almost hypnotic. So enthralled in watching her, he did not realise at first that Margarita had been dragged onto the floor with them, her dance moves more hesitant than the other two. The three girls continued to move to the music and as they danced. "Is it wrong to be turned on by this?" Thomas Warrington asked loudly. Scorpius whacked him on the upside of his head. It was the least of what he deserved.

"Very and if you keep looking at them like that I'll have to use and unforgivable curse on you. And you _know_ which one I mean," Duanne growled, sounding extremely intimidating.

"Understood." Thomas replied and rubbed the back of his head. The girls shrieked having overheard some of the conversation but the continued dancing until the end of the song.

Scorpius could see that Lily was near exhaustion when she stopped dancing. Her eyes searched the crowd for Duanne who sat on the other side of the couch as Scorpius. Scorpius downed his latest drink as he watched Lily walk towards them and sit between the two of them. She leant towards Duanne and he welcomed her presence and draped his arm around her shoulder. She snuggled closer to him, "That was fun" she told him breathlessly and he gazed down at her admiringly.

"You were awesome, where'd you learn to dance like that?" Duanne asked. Lily beamed at Duanne's appraising gaze. Scorpius could not keep the fact that he had enjoyed her dancing as much as Duanne had, from showing on his face. Lily looked smug at that, which surprised Scorpius. She was not supposed to care what he thought, but from the look in her eyes, she did. It appeared to surprise her as much as it surprised him.

"Some old Muggle dance films. I love to play them and imitate what I see" Lily informed him.

"Really?" Malfoy asked, surprised that she learnt to dance from watching a film. He knew what a film was after he and Duanne had gone to a Muggle cinema one day to see what all the fuss was about.

Lily frowned "Yes, the barbarians aren't completely useless." she snapped and turned her back on him so that she faced Duanne.

"I didn't mean it like that." Scorpius grumbled; trust Lily to be difficult.

"Whatever." Lily sighed nonchalantly. She turned her attention to Duanne and they laughed and joked. As Lily relaxed, she even made conversation with Scorpius. It was not only him asking her questions an she responding; Lily was actually asking him things as well.

Scorpius was surprised to see how relaxed they were around each other. "You know what Potter?" Scorpius sighed after an unknown amount of time.

Lily tipped her head backwards so Duanne's grip on her arms was all that stopped her from falling head first into Scorpius' lap. Scorpius resisted the urge to laugh at the sight of her. "What Malfoy?" she asked and an unmistakable giggle escaped her lips.

"I kind of find you bearable when you're relaxed like this." He grinned.

"Ha, that's funny." she attempted at sarcasm but a genuine laugh spoilt the effect, "I find you less horrific when I'm like this too." she chuckled.

There was a moment where the two just stared at each other until Duanne decided Scorpius had monopolised Lily's attention long enough. "Do you fancy dancing?" Duanne asked and Lily snapped her back upright so that she could see him. Her hands flew to her head in attempt to steady her spinning vision. "In a minute" she groaned and lowered her head to his shoulder and closed her eyes so that she could not see the room spin around her. Scorpius noted that she did not look well, like she had not looked well after the Tornado Twister earlier.

Scorpius went to get Lily a glass of water. When he came back, Lily was no longer there. Duanne was but he was talking to his sisters. "Have you seen Potter?" Scorpius asked.

Duanne looked confused. "What are you talking about? She's over there mate." Duanne said. He paused when he realised Lily was not where he left her. Scorpius and Duanne both went in search of Lily. It was Lux who came to them and mentioned Lily had left the party and was trying to find her way back to the Gryffindor common room alone; and it was Scorpius who went after her to make sure she got back ok.

Scorpius ran along the empty corridors listening for any sound that was not supposed to be there. It did not take him long to find her in an abandoned classroom looking for something. "Are you ok there Potter?"

Lily jumped and gasped in surprise. "And you said Potter's sneak." She complained and stumbled over toward him. She was unsteady on her feet; his arms shot forward to catch her before she fell.

"I'm sorry if I surprised you. I came to see if you were ok. I want to make sure you find your way back to your common room." Lily leant against his chest until she regained her balance. Scorpius tensed knowing that she was acting out of character, even with the so-called temporary truce they had going for the evening. He couldn't help but worry about her. "How much did you drink?"

"Not much." She replied honestly, he voice muffled against his chest. "I just had the one and I didn't really touch the second. And I have no idea where my robes are." She finished and huffed in frustration because she could not remember which classroom Maggie had put her robes

He frowned, wondering what was wrong with her, if she wasn't drunk then maybe the Tornado Twister had affected her more than either of them had thought. "Should I take you to the medical wing? This is not a normal reaction. The firewhiskey is watered down because there are always the underage students who try to drink it instead of the milder stuff. What is you are having a reaction to the sweet your uncle sent you. Maybe you should get a message to him. I'll help break into my aunt's office and you can use her fire." He suggested since by fire was one of the quickest ways to get in contact with another witch or wizard if they were home. His arms were gently around her waist; ready to provide support if needed but not trap her.

"No I just need to get some sleep." She decided and yawned. Scorpius was surprised that she still allowed him to hold her like this. She really must be confused if she was not cursing him and demanding he leave her alone. He wondered if she would remember this tomorrow. He wasn't sure whether he wanted her to remember or not. What if she was appalled by the memory?

He sighed. He wanted to get her help but he knew how stubborn she was. "Ok. But let me come with you."

Lily tilted her head back and gazed up at him confused. "Why are you being nice to me? You hate me."

Scorpius rolled his eyes- _now_ she had to remember. "I'm not a bad guy really and I don't hate you." He assured her and smiled.

Lily stared up at him confused ant first and then intrigued. Scorpius felt his gut tighten in reaction to the look in her eyes. "You have a nice smile. You should smile more often."

"Now I know you are ill if you're dishing out compliments like that. Let's get you back to the Gryffindor to-"

Scorpius' words were cut short when Lily, in her high heels, crashed her lips against his. Scorpius froze as the kiss assaulted his senses. Scorpius' hands settled on her waist, but he could not force himself to push her away. As if reading his mind, Lily's hands knotted around his neck so he could not pull away even if he wanted to. His hands on her waist no longer moved to push her away but pulled her closer. All sensible thoughts disappeared from his mind; all the reasons why he should stop the kiss disappeared.

Lily gasped when he lifted her body against his, he was too tall and even in her high heels her feet barely touched the floor. Lips fought with lips as heat rose between the two. Her tongue was the first to steal a taste of him. Seconds later, he deepened the kiss. He urged her backwards, her toes grazing against the floor until he lifted her onto a desk. She groaned in approval of their new position and her hands delved into his silky blonde hair.

His hands, no longer needed at her waist, slid to her thighs. Her dress riding up as her thighs opened, allowing him to step between them; they tightened around him, not wanting him to move. Heat soared between their bodies until Scorpius had to end the kiss when it became almost too much to bear. It was then when Scorpius realised where he was, what he was doing and whom he was with. His senses returned and he stepped away from Lily despite her protest. He raked a hand through his platinum hair, horrified about what he was doing. It was not right. Lily may not be drunk but she was not in her right mind either. The kiss proved that. "Shit Lily I'm sorry."

Confused Lily slipped off the desk and stepped towards him. By the second step, she stumbled and Scorpius had to catch her again. This time she could not bear her weight, she was too exhausted. Scorpius cursed and scooped her into his arms as he ignored his continued need for her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her head rested against his shoulder. "You're going to be ok, I'll take you back to the Gryffindor tower" he assured her and she yawned as her eyes drooped. She was completely exhausted and Scorpius speculated that it was a result of the Tornado Twister she'd had earlier. She had better be okay after this of her uncle George and cousin Freddie would make it onto his shit list, just below Eoin MacLaggen.

Feeling guilty and utterly appalled by his actions, Scorpius carried her along the empty corridors stopping every now and then to check where he was going. It did not take him too long to find his way, although coming face to face with the portrait of the Fat Lady made him pause.

"What are you doing here boy. You're not a Gryffindor. Oh my word! Violet! Violet, come see what he has done to the Potter girl!" The portrait of the fat lady sang in alarm. Violet's portrait came to have a nosey.

"I haven't done anything to her, she's asleep." Scorpius gritted out as the two women in the portrait hurled profanities at him. The last thing he needed was for more rumors to spread about him attacking Lily Potter and bringing her unconscious body to the Gryffindor common room. If only he hadn't left his galleon he used to communicate with Rose back in his school robes, she may have been able to help.

"Lily you need to wake up." Scorpius asked urgently. She groaned sleepily in response. Not knowing what else to do, he shifted her weight in his arms so that he freed one hand. He then proceeded to slap her face gently. More groaning followed. "What's the password?" he urged.

Hazel eyes flicked momentarily open. "Dumbledore" she yawned. Scorpius was relieved when the portrait swung open without any more accusations from the Fat Lady. He lifted her through the portrait hole carefully and carried her into the common room. He hadn't been in the room before, not even when he and Albus Potter had been friends. It was a lot more comfortable that his own, soft looking furniture and a large fire with only embers left. He tried to lower her onto one of the couches but she wouldn't let go of his neck. He had to pry her fingers open and even then, she protested in her sleep. He laughed at her reluctance knowing it wouldn't be the case if she was awake.

After laying her down, he added another log to the fire so it would keep her warm. He didn't like the idea of her cold. He conjured a blanket, draped it over her and watched her snuggle into it. She became restless so he began stroking her hair until she settled.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Scorpius looked into the furious gaze of Albus Potter. "I was making sure your sister got back here safe. Nothing more and nothing less."

"What was she doing with you?" Albus demanded. Lily began to stir and they stepped away from her so not to disturb her again.

"She wasn't with me; I was just free to escort her back."

"If you have harmed her in any way -" Albus threatened.

"Give me some credit." Scorpius scoffed. "She's Magdalana's best friend. Do you really think I would do something to her when she's asleep?" He spat back. He struggled to keep his tone low, he was furious at his former best friend for implying that he could do such a thing.

"I don't want to see you near her again." Albus ordered, his emerald eyes narrowing menacingly.

"Don't worry. When we're not in detention together I'll keep my distance." Scorpius said bitterly. If Lily did remember the kiss in the morning then there was no was she would want anything to do with him. He had nothing else to say to his former best friend so he stormed out of the portrait hole.

He muttered darkly under his breath all the way back to the Slytherin Common room. On his way back he realized something was caught in his robe. He examined the piece and recognized it as a hooped earring Lily had been wearing. It must have fallen off either when they kissed or when he carried her. He slipped in his pocket.

Only when he reached his dormitory and found everyone asleep, did he take out the earring he'd acquired. He placed it in the box next to the handkerchief and lily and slid the box under his bed. Climbing into his four-poster her drew the curtain around him and lay in the darkness. He thought of the kiss he shared with Lily and wondered if she would remember it in the morning. Sighing he reached for a Fantasy Blast. Slipping it into his mouth he imagined a less noble scenario where he didn't stop Lily from snogging his brains out. When the effects of the chocolate ended, he reached for another and thought of things that would make Lily Potter blush the colour of her hair.

**Sorry if this chapter is confusing I dont have much free time at the moment :( Nevertheless, i hope you enjoyed reading it**


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